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Monday, March 10, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 20

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Aviation: FG annuls signatories to N12.5bn BASA account Wole Shadare

I

n a bid to prevent questionable withdrawals of cash from the Bilateral Air Service Agree-

ment (BASA) funds, the Federal Government has annulled the signatures of all the four parties to the account.

A top official in the

Ministry of Aviation made this known to New Telegraph last night.

BASA is an agreement, which two nations sign to allow international com-

mercial air transport services between their territories, while BASA fund is the amount of money accruing as royalty paid by foreign airlines in com-

pensation for Nigeria’s inability to reciprocate some routes under the pact.

Signatories to the account are the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority

(NCAA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Senate and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Boko Haram on the rampage

lAttacks wedding, razes churches, court, police station, kills 7 officers Ibrahim Abdul Yola

F

undamentalists went on the rampage at the weekend, killing

scores of residents of Fota, Gombi Local Government, Adamawa State.

Aside killing seven policemen, they also torched churches, a police station

and a court.

It is believed that members of Boko Haram, fleeing from Sambisa Forest, Borno State due to the consistent shelling of their

base by security agents, were responsible for the attacks.

The fleeing insurgents also attacked a wedding in Bisir, shooting into the

crowd.

The Fota attack happened at dawn.

A resident simply known as Musa said the fundamentalists, on sight-

ing the police station, opened fire, killing the seven policemen on duty.

In the premises of the church razed, the pastor’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Fuel diversion

Alison-Madueke threatens conspirators Adeola Yusuf

M L-R: Minister of State (1), Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri; Senate President David Mark; President of the 2014 Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Ignatus Kaigama; President Goodluck Jonathan; Cardinal John Onaiyekan and others during the opening of the conference at the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Garki, Abuja... yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Controversy trails 90-day window for aspirants in the Electoral Act

lLai Mohammed, Okupe, Metuh, Gulak in verbal war

Ayodele Ojo

T

he Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday

News. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Metro . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Politics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Opinions. . . . . . . . . . .

Investigation . . . . . . .

Business . . . . . . . . . . .

Entrepreneur . . . . . . .

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

2015: Presidency, APC differ over Jonathan’s ‘unity’ rallies

CAMPAIGN

INSIDE

inister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has threatened to publish the names of marketers involved in diversion of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

Alison-Madueke, who paid an unscheduled visit

2 11 13 20 21 25 41 51

differed on the campaign strategy being adopted

by President Goodluck

Lagos

Thunder Storm O O

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Jonathan ahead of the 2015 elections.

While the leading op-

position party accused the president of embarking on electioneering sub-

tly using unity rallies to welcome defectors to the Peoples Democratic Party

AT A GLANCE

(PDP), the Presidency insisted that Jonathan has CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

NEWS

POLITICS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

Appeal Court sacks Ondo monarch Page 4

Obasanjo out to destabilise Jonathan’s government, says Okurounmu Page 14-15

Nigerian airlines lose N300 billion annually to capital flight Page 25

Keshi under fire over position on Uche Page 51

2

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Aviation: FG annuls signatories to N12.5bn BASA account CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Nigeria did not have airlines to reciprocate most of the BASA pact until Arik Air; Air Nigeria debuted some years ago. While Air Nigeria has suspended operations, Arik is the only one flying Nigeria’s flag internationally but does not have the capacity and capability to reciprocate all the air pacts between Nigeria and other foreign airlines.

Although, sources disclosed that over $74 million (N12.58 billion) had accrued to the BASA account, it is difficult to ascertain the exact amount in the account as most of the funds were said to have been withdrawn in the name of remodelling.

Between January 2005, when the account was created, and June 2012 (seven-and-a-half years), the Federal Government earned over N16 billion from international sched-

uled passenger airlines and cargo operators.

The source said the BASA account was closed almost four weeks ago, shortly before the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, was removed from office, following reports that some money, which did not follow due process, was about to be withdrawn from the account.

“We ordered that all the signatories to that account (BASA) should seize to function in that capacity because of the reports we got that some funds, which are questionable, were about to be moved from the BASA account. That is just all I can tell you,” the source said.

The BASA account has been in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Under the law, the procedure for accessing and spending from the Bilater-

al Air Service Agreement (BASA) fund required that any expenses from this fund must be budgetted in the annual budget, appropriated by the National Assembly and approved by the President.

Unfortunately, since the assumption of office

by Stella Oduah and Mr. George Uriesi as Minister of Aviation and Managing Director of FAAN respectively, this has not been done.

Over $76 million and another $13 million have been allegedly diverted to various projects without following due process and the laid down procedures in the Bureau for Public Procurement Act. These contracts were neither publicly advertised nor contained in any of the Federal Government’s Tenders & Procurement bulletins.

Rather than apply the money to verifiable physi-

cal projects, the money was being shared and used to pay for unbudgeted pseudo claims, expenses and unapproved projects.

For instance, in February 2010, $6 million out of the balance standing to the credit of the BASA fund was claimed to have been used to pay Hydro Air Cargo for damages to its aircraft when it landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in November, 2003.

Just last year, Oduah, in a statement, said her ministry accessed $60 million from the BASA fund to form part of the fund utilised in refurbishing the 11 airports in the country, which she said was over 90 per cent completed She said contrary to speculations, the entire sum in the BASA fund was $74 million, adding that stashing BASA fund in the banks when critical infrastructure challenges

Front row (L-R); Regional Director, Central Africa, All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), Ernest Ewane; CEO/MD, PRM Africa, Mike Dada;Chairperson, African Union Commission, H.E, Dr. Nkosazama Dlami Zuma; Director, Brand Communication and Sponsorship, AFRIMA, Matlou Tsotetsi; Senior Editorial Officer, Information and Communication Directorate, AUC, Tankou Azza Esther; Back Row (L-R) ; Director, Strategy and Stakeholder Engagements, AFRIMA, Titiloye Amzat; Administrative Officer, Social Affairs, AUC; Alice N’taye; Senior Cultural Officer, Social Affairs, AUC; Angela Martins; Co-producer and Regional Director, Eastern Africa, AFRIMA, Mike Strano and Senior Policy Officer, Social Affairs, AUC, Kladoumadje Nadjaldongar during the meeting on AFRIMA 2014 at the African Union Secretariat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Boko Haram kills 7 policemen CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

house was also torched.

He said: “It was in the night while we were busy in a wedding ceremony, at about 10-11pm, the gunmen, suspected to be members of Boko Haram, struck. They first attacked the area police station, killing seven police officers instantly, including mobile policemen, deployed.

“They later set ablaze the court and three big churches. Not only that, they looted and burnt down a church food store.

“The gunmen drove in dozens on bikes and other vehicles, chanting Allahu Akbar, many times before fleeing.

“Those gathered at the wedding all scampered for safety. Despite the fact that

they opened fire, no one was killed at the gathering,” Musa said.

It was learnt that some of the policemen killed had earlier engaged the fundamentalists in a gun duel.

“While they were running away, they saw another wedding in Bisir and they started shooting again, killing one of the

guests.

“Many had been rushed to hospitals for treatment.”

The Adamawa Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muhammed Ibrahim, confirmed the attack.

Similarly, the Army Public Relations Officer of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, Captain Jafaru Nuhu, confirmed the incident.

required immediate and urgent redress served no one any useful purpose.

According to Joe Obi, the former minister’s spokesman, out of $74 million, former Aviation Minister, Mrs. Fedelia Njeze, sought and obtained approval from the Presidency and the

National Assembly for the utilisation of $60 million (about N7.5 billion) from the fund for the rehabilitation of infrastructure at the nation’s airports in line with the Civil Aviation Act 2006, but could not access the fund before the end of her stewardship.

Alison-Madueke threatens conspirators CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

to filling stations to ascertain the level of fuel scarcity in Lagos, also directed the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), George Osahon, Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulating Agency, (PPPRA), Ahmed as well as the head of the Petroleum and Pipeline Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh, to increase tracking of product-laden trucks in the country.

These heads of agencies under the petroleum ministry, the minister said, must supply her how these trucks are being tracked “because diversion is not easy to do unilaterally”.

“There will be sanction and I’m ready to publish names of anybody that may be involved.

“We have enough fuel to wet the country, but the challenge we are having is that, after loading, some truck drivers will not supply the lifted products at the designated filling stations.

“Having gone round the state (Lagos), it is not just the filling stations at Ikoyi that appeared to be wet with product, but other extreme locations like Ajah and other parts in Surulere.

“It appears there are lots of factors militating against efficient delivery of fuel.

“We learnt that some of the marketers instructed their drivers to change the number plates of their trucks to make it difficult for tracking. Does it mean those markets are diverting the product to a more lucrative market?

“I have directed the heads of the agencies,

DPR, PPMC and PPPRA, to get back to me today and give me a clear picture and timeline in terms of numbers of trucks coming in to Lagos, the volumes and where they are getting to in terms of the market.”

“There is diversion and I want some ideas about the diversion. If we can establish there is, I want to know when and how this is being done.

“They need to supply me how these trucks are being tracked because diversion is not easy to do.

There will be sanction and I’m ready to publish names of anybody that may be involved.”

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST PORT HARCOURT

28o 21o Storm

ABUJA

37o 24o Cloudy

KANO

34o 11o Partially Cloudy

ENUGU

34o 24o Isolated Storm

IBADAN

34o 23o Isolated Storm

CALABAR

32o 23o Thunder Storm

MAIDUGURI

38o 18o Sunny

ONITSHA

33o 23o Partially Cloudy

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

CANDIDATE

Who is the PDP candidate for the June 21 Ekiti guber election? Aspirants are eager to know.

Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

M

embers, governorship aspirants and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State are gripped with tension as they await the result of the screening of aspirants conducted in Abuja on Saturday.

Investigation by our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti yesterday revealed that their anxiety is borne out of the fear that some of the aspirants could be disqualified.

Another issue raising their blood pressure is what will be the decision of the national leadership of the party on whether to go for primary or consensus in selecting the party’s candidate for the June 21 poll.

The party is sharply divided along the line of those clamouring for party primary and those calling for consensus.

The Screening Committee, led by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, had on Saturday screened 16 out of the 18 aspirants who col-

3

Screening: Tension in Ekiti as PDP guber aspirants await result lected Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.

Those screened were former Governor Ayo Fayose, former Police Affairs Minister, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), Deji Ajayi, Bodunde Adeyanju, Peter Obafemi, Ropo Ogunbolude, Dayo Adeyeye, Mrs Bosede Dada, Dare Bejide, Gbenga Aluko, Adebisi Omoyeni, Abiodun Aluko, Bode Olowoporoku, Wale Aribisala, Alhaja Adubiaro Omolara and Mrs Dupe Ogundipe.

Otunba Reuben Famuyibo did not show up for the exercise, while Mrs Bola Oloyede was not screened because she did not appear with any document before the panel.

The panel is expected to make public the result of the exercise today (Monday).

A source in the party said the national leadership of the party is also expected to announce the date when the party would formally choose its candidate.

One of the aspirants, Alhaja Omolara Adubiaro, urged the aspirants to prioritise the interest of the party and abide by its deci-

sion pertaining the choice of the flagbearer.

Adubiaro said it was imperative for the aspirants to abide by the party’s decision since it was all geared towards ensuring the party’s victory in the election and the development of Ekiti State.

Adubiaro, a university

teacher, also appealed to Ekiti people and PDP leaders to support her aspiration “being the first time a woman will come out for governorship and in view of the lofty programmes and policies I have for the transformation of the state and betterment of the lots of women, children and

youth”.

The PDP governorship hopeful said in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that she was favourably disposed to consensus option to select the party’s candidate, saying such would prevent bickering and post-primary crisis.

The university teacher said the PDP would win

the June 21 governorship election “hands down” because “Ekiti people need change. They want a government that will listen to the yearning and aspirations of Ekiti people. They are yearning for change having experienced PDP governments in 2003 and 2007.”

Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha (left) and the out-going governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi during the end of tenure event held at Awka, Anambra State

1.7m

The number of people who died of AIDS-related illnesses worldwide in 2011.

Source: Who.int

119

The number of countries that reported HIV/AIDS test in 2010.

Source: Who.int

95m

The total number of people tested for HIV/AIDS in 2010.

Source: Who.int

Lai Mohammed, Okupe, others differ over Jonathan’s ‘unity’ rallies CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

not breached any law of the land.

Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) stipulates that: “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”

Implicitly, by the election timetable recently released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the campaign ahead of the February 2015 elections commences in November.

But Jonathan has, in the last one month, intensified efforts to mobilise support for his re-election bid on February 14, 2015.

Apart from engaging in campaign shuttles to

traditional rulers and religious bodies across the country, the President has held several campaign rallies in the guise of welcoming defectors from other political parties, especially from the APC and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to the PDP. He has been to Ilorin, Kwara State; Owerri, Imo State; Sokoto to receive political gladiators into the PDP while the president along with 18 PDP governors attended the NorthCentral rally in Minna, the Niger State capital, at the weekend.

The president is billed to attend another zonal rally, North-West, on Tuesday in Kaduna.

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told New

Telegraph that all the rallies Jonathan has been holding were geared towards the 2015 elections.

“Believe me, right now I think INEC has lost the control and moral right to tell us when to start campaign and when not to start campaign. If the shuttles President Jonathan has made to Sokoto, Owerri, Ilorin, Minna, Onitsha and South-West are not for campaign purposes, then what is a campaign? Tell me! If what Mr. President did in Ilorin, Minna and Owerri is not campaign; then tell me what is a campaign?

We shall also do the same thing he has done and nobody is going to stop us,” the APC spokesman said.

He said the development informed the decision of the APC to ask

INEC to define what a campaign is all about if the president has been going around telling Nigerians that the PDP is the best party that can rescue Nigeria and that they will reclaim Kwara and Nasarawa states in the 2015 elections.

His words: “Clearly what is a campaign and what sort of campaign? I think the matter has gone beyond INEC, because if the president can lead his party in what clearly amount to a campaign, then INEC cannot stop any political party from doing likewise.

“We all listened to Mr. President in Owerri, Ilorin, Minna and Anambra.

In Ilorin, what he told all of us was that he was not campaigning but holding unity rally. The APC is

also going to have our own unity and freedom rallies.

Problem could only arise when the police or INEC make attempt to sanction APC for doing what the PDP has done either in the near future or immediately about opposition because what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.

“INEC and the police cannot close their eyes and give protection to Mr. President and the PDP but now come and kick against ours; this is when trouble would start.”

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, told New Telegraph that Jonathan has not embarked on election campaign but a unity rally.

“Nobody is campaigning as there are no can-

didates for any election.

What the PDP is doing is interactive rally for unity amongst the party members,” Gulak told our correspondent.

The PDP also insisted that it has not embarked on any campaign.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, told New Telegraph that the APC has become violent and launching attack on the sensibilities of Nigerians, thus informing the need to preach peace and unity among the citizens.

“We have not embarked on any campaign. We have not presented any candidates at any rally. We don’t even have candidate for now. What we are doing is a sensitisation among our members through C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4

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NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Appeal Court sacks Ondo monarch Babatope Okeowo Akure

A

fter about 12 years on the throne, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has sacked a foremost traditional ruler and the Jegun of Idepe in Okitipupa Local Government, Oba Michael Adetoye Obanuga.

Apart from asking him to vacate the throne with immediate effect, the court also ordered that a fresh selection process, which must exclude the sacked monarch and the Ruling House which produced him, be initiated by the government immediately.

The weekend judgement of the Appeal Court was in line with an earlier verdict of an Ondo State High Court, Okitipupa Judicial Division, which sacked the traditional ruler over faulty selection process in December, 2005.

In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Mojeed Adekunle Owoade, the court dismissed the nine-year-old appeal

filled by Oba Obanuga on the grounds that it lacked merit and failed in its entirety.

In a unanimous verdict supported by the presiding Judge, Justice Sotonye Denton West and Justice Cordelia Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo, the court upheld the decision of the trial judge of the Lower High Court, Justice J. Akintoroye, which was delivered on December 14, 2005, that the Oba was not selected at a proper or valid meeting of the kingmakers to the Jegun of Idepe Chieftaincy.

Appellants in the appeal case No: CA/B/146/2006, Oba Obatuga and High Chief Felix Oladejoye Obamonire had filed 12 grounds of appeal through their lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) in which they raised seven issues for determination.

Also, respondents in the appeal, Prince Raymond Adewole Oyebokun, High Chief J. Akindejoye and six others filed their cross appeal through their lawyer, Mr Kola Olayiwola.

Among the issues

raised by the appellants, they disagreed with the verdict of the lower High Court that the election of Oba Obatuga contravened Section 8A (5) of the Chiefs Law of Ondo State.

They also asked the court to determine whether the learned court was not in grave error to give judgement

in favour of Prince Oyebokun and some High Chiefs who were the plaintiffs at the Lower Court, adding that they have no ‘locus standi’ to sue for themselves and on behalf of others.

But the court, in its judgement, tackled the grounds of the appeal one after the other, with the seven issues raised

and held that the appeal failed in its entirety, thereby upholding the position of the lower court.

Justice Owoade noted that the learned trial judge, Justice Akintoroye, found that 16 of 26 kingmakers were denied their customary right to select a Jegun of Idepe in the exercise, leading

to the emergence of the Oba. While ordering that the deposed monarch and his Ruling House cannot partake in the fresh selection process, the court quoted Section 11(A) of the Chiefs Law of Ondo State which it said introduced equity and fair play into chieftaincy issues.

Founder, First City Monument Bank, Chief Michael Subomi Balogun; his wife, Abimbola; Chief Kola Daisi; Chief Chris Ogunbanjo and General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), during a church service to celebrate Balogun’s 80th birthday at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos…yesterday

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

191

The total number of independent States worldwide.

Source: Worldfactsandfigures.com

70m

The number of people reportedly infected with the HIV virus since its beginning.

Source: Who.int

192,459

The number of suicides committed this year.

Source: Worldometers.info

Okorie: Jonathan has not breached the law CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

unity rallies for peace and progress in the PDP, and Nigeria at large. This has become necessary because of the violent nature of APC ahead of the forthcoming elections,” Metuh said.

Also, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that the President is a law-abiding citizen who will not breach any law of the land.

Okupe said: “The President has not started any campaign for the 2015 elections. A campaign is a different thing. When you campaign, you go there to fight for your party, for candidates, for people to vote for you and all that.

In this situation, he has not even declared his intention to run for a second term. So, how can you say he is campaigning?

“But there is no law

against people coming together as a party. I mean what about all these rallies that would have been held at Port Harcourt by the APC. “In places the president has visited, he went there to receive those coming back into the party. There are campaign rallies, but the one Mr. President is doing is to accept new comers into the PDP. So, what President Jonathan is doing does not fall into the definition of a political campaign.”

When reminded that Jonathan was in Minna on Saturday where he assured that PDP will reclaim Kwara and Nasarawa states in 2015, the presidential aide said: “That is not a campaign. Strictly speaking, a political campaign is when you go to a venue and you campaign either as a candidate or for the people to vote for

a candidate who wants to be a senator, governor or something. But when you come to thank someone for voting for you in 2011 and letting them know what you have been able to do so far, that is not a campaign.”

Okupe assured that “this president will not breach any law, either electoral or constitution; he is not going to breach any law.”

National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, also said the President has not embarked on electioneering.

He said: “The law does not prevent any party from promoting the party because you cannot promote your party without actually canvasing votes for individual or any person going for office. The same thing that APC is doing; hold-

ing seminars, going from state to state launching their party. Nobody can say that they have flouted the law because they have not started canvasing for votes or Jonathan is not saying vote for PDP or for him. So, I see what he is doing as promotional but not campaigning for vote which is against the law.”

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, said by his action, Jonathan has started campaign ahead of 2015.

Falana stated that the 90-day time stipulated by the Electoral Act is not feasible.

His words: “Apart from receiving defectors, he also goes to churches every Sunday to campaign.

Once the service is over, President Jonathan is giving the microphone not to pray but to campaign. So, that is why INEC has not

been able to enforce the law, and that is why INEC cannot enforce the law.

“What the president is doing is campaign because I remember when he was in Sokoto, apart from receiving those who were defecting; the president also said the PDP is the best party in the country and that people should join them in continuing their programmes. That is a campaign.

“There is no doubt that the president has engaged in campaign, but I am saying that he is not violating the constitution. The INEC law being violated cannot stand in the face of the provision of the constitution.”’

“I think INEC just made the statement to harass the politicians in the opposition parties; it does not address the ruling party. But on a very serious note, this is part of the

carryover of military dictatorship whereby our entire life was regulated. In all civilised democracies, by convention, campaign is actually the entire year to the election,” he added.

He said the electoral act is in breach of the constitution which provides for freedom of association, assembly and expression in the constitution, whereas the Electoral Act is saying; if you want to contest election in Nigeria, you shall not campaign until 90 days to the election.

“It is not practicable to cover the entire nation in 90 days; hence the president has begun his own campaign.

“There are primaries, presidential debate and the rest of them. You go round the entire country, but if you go by the provision of the INEC law which, of course, has to be C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 6

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Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

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THESE ARE THE SIGNPOSTS OF THE

NEW DAWN IN OSUN

Osun a Dara!

OSUN

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Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Battle for South-West: Olubolade replies Aregbesola, Fayemi

A

leading governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), has said that the June 21 and August 9 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states

would be peaceful.

The immediate past Police Affairs Minister was reacting to the interview granted by Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) that PDP would have to step on blood to win the two states in the coming

elections.

Olubolade, who addressed thousands of party faithful in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, said that the PDP was not interested in the death of any Nigerian “for our candidate to get to any office”.

“This kind of statement

from them shows the type of party they run, a party of propaganda, deceit and violence. Nigerians now know the difference between the PDP and APC (All Progressives Congress). In the coming elections, our people are now wiser and they won’t allow

L-R: Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN); President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Okey Wali (SAN); Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); his wife; Ekiti NBA Chairman, Bunmi Olugbade, and others at the commissioning of the Wole Olanipekun Bar Centre, Ikere Ekiti branch

242,275

The total number of road traffic accident fatalities this year.

Source: Worldometers.info

1:20

The ratio of adult people in SubSahara Africa living with HIV. Source: Who.int

69%

The percentage of adult people in Sub-Sahara Africa living with HIV to the people living with HIV worldwide.

Source: Who.int

Okurounmu: Obasanjo working with APC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

subjected to the constitution; the 90 days period of campaign is totally illegal.

But every Nigerians has right to exchange views and idea; and also impart ideas,” Falana told New Telegraph.

Impeccable sources told New Telegraph that a think-thank team constituted by the president came up with the strategy of holding unity rallies across the country to mobilise PDP members ahead of the 2015 elections.

The President’s kitchen cabinet, including Vice President Namadi Sambo, a presidential aide who is a confidant of the president and others, were also mandated to reach out to traditional and religious leaders in the North to back Jonathan in the forthcoming election.

“We have a mandate

to secure endorsements from various establishments in the North, particularly Emirs, Islamic clerics and other stakeholders. We are making progress on this. The perception that the North hates Jonathan does not tally with the reality on ground. The president is well-loved in the North,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Senator Femi Okurounmu, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of plotting to destabilise the Goodluck Jonathan administration ahead of 2015.

Okurounmu accused Obasanjo of working for the APC to produce the presidency in 2015.

“Obasanjo is out to destabilise Jonathan’s government. In fact, Obasan-

jo is in sync with APC to destabilise Jonathan government. So, Obasanjo is now an enemy within as far as PDP is concerned.

Even though he says he still carries PDP card, he is really working with APC,” Okurounmu said.

According to him, “Governor Rabiu Kwankanso is Obasanjo’s choice for the next president, he said so long ago and Rotimi Amaechi is his choice for vice president.

So, Obasanjo has determined who our next rulers would be. To achieve this, he must destabilise Jonathan. That is why the entire APC figures are going there because he is working towards an APC agenda in the presidential election.

“They visited him and invited him to be the captain of their ship, to steer them and he didn’t reject it. He only said he is still

a member of the PDP. But then, Rotimi Amaechi invited him to commission some of his projects, instead of the sitting president and he went. Amaechi is known to be an APC governor.”

He noted that the inability of Obasanjo to control the president was responsible for the no love lost between the two leaders.

He said: “Obasanjo wants to be an emperor.

Even when he is out of government, he still wants to continue governing.

I think that must be the problem between him and Jonathan. Obasanjo wants to be president outside Aso Rock, telling the man inside Aso Rock how he must govern. That is the problem we are having in Nigeria today. If he cannot do that, then he must destabilise that government.”

anybody to deceive them.

“I want to remind you that the PDP won the two states in the 2007 elections and you all know what happened in October and November 2010 when the two states were handed over to the then ACN. “President Goodluck Jonathan has told everybody, including the international community that the blood of any Nigerian is not worth any office.

That is our creed in the PDP. How could governors be talking like that? Blood, in the 21st Century? This is unacceptable!

“I want to tell you that we are ready to retake the two states from them and in 2015, other states will be won by the PDP because democracy is a game of numbers. PDP is the largest party, not only in Nigeria but in Africa. Those governors know what is coming. That is why they are talking like that. I want to urge you not to play into their hands because they know that the electorate have rejected them, so, they are planning to use instrument of violence to return to office. Will you allow them?”

The crowd shouted:

“No”. He also told them they must ensure that votes count during the elections “because that is the mandate given to us by President Goodluck Jonathan”.

“Let me send a strong message to the APC that they should forget Ekiti and Osun states in June and August 2014. I am highly optimistic about this. Ekiti people are waiting for me because they know what I can do. I was governor of Bayelsa State and my records are there for everybody to see. I was also Minister of Special Duties, Minister of State, FCT and Police Affairs Minister where I did my very best.

“With my pedigree, it will be easy for me to make Ekiti people happy once again. The good days are here. We are not afraid of the propaganda coming from the APC. It is Fayemi who is jittery now because he knows he has not delivered on his promise to our people. I have what it takes to unseat him and that is what the Ekiti electorate will do for me to be declared winner of the Ekiti State Governorship election on June 21 2014 by God’s grace”.

Forbes new listing, impetus for job creation, says Dangote

B

illionaire business mogul, Aliko Dangote, has said that his recent listing in the Forbes Magazine as one of the 25 richest people in the world, would only spur him to commit himself the more to reduction of poverty among Nigerians through creation of gainful employment He said he has always believed that the worth of a man does not consist in his wealth but the number of lives he is able to impact positively.

Speaking against the background of fresh injection of N200 billion into his foundation, the Dangote Foundation, the president and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, said he would pursue the task of poverty reduction and health management with renewed vigour.

Dangote said: “Dangote foundation is now 20 years old. This initial endowment

will assure that Dangote Foundation has secure and steady funding to carry out its mission as we significantly scale up our work.

He announced the reconstitution of the board of trustees of the Foundation.

Members now include himself as the Chairman, Sani Dangote, Halima Aliko Dangote, Olakunle Alake, A B Mahmoud (SAN), Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Angela Adebayo, Hajara Adeola and Yvonne Ike. “And last year, we appointed Adhiambo Odaga, Managing Director, to grow the Dangote Foundation team. The stage is set now for the next stage of our institutional growth.”

“Going forward - from the second quarter of this year, we will lay greater emphasis on youth and women empowerment through large scale efforts that cultivate meaningful change in their lives.”

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Bayelsa sues EFCC over N1.4b seized from Alamieyesiegha Tunde Oyesina Abuja

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ayelsa State Government has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja seeking to recover N1.4 billion and another 1.3 million USD seized from a former governor of the state, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha .

Earlier before the suit, Bayelsa State Government had mandated the Chief Executive of Panic Alert Security System, Mr George Uboh to recover the money on its behalf.

In line with his mandate,

Uboh wrote to the EFCC requesting for the monies to be paid to him within 7 days following which the commission requested him to meet with its staff on 19th December, 2013.

Uboh, however, stated that he met with EFCC and the commission asked him for a short time to comply.

He added that as at the beginning of this month, the commission had yet to remit the monies and that the state had instructed that a suit be filed against the commission to recover the monies.

In a writ of summons issued at the Federal High Court against EFCC and its Chairman, Mr Ibra-

him Lamorde, the state is asking the court to declare that the failure of EFCC to remit the complete funds recovered from Alamieyesiegha after he was investigated and prosecuted and "subsequently trading with the funds by way of funds placement/fixed deposits is an act of corruption and an economic crime contrary to sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004".

In the suit filed by counsel to the state, Anthony Agbonlahor, the state also asked the court to issue an order to direct the commission to immediately pay the monies with the interest which had accrued on them.

Akande blasts INEC, alleges irregularities in voters cards collection in Osun Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

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he National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande at the weekend blasted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its three-day Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) collection exercise in Osun state.

Chief Akande, who hit hard on the Commission while answering questions from newsmen in

his country home in IlaOrangun after collecting his PVC, expressed disappointment, saying “the collection of the PVC was marred with irregularities and fraud which underscore INEC inefficiency and incompetence.

"Some names which appeared once on the voters register in 2011 appeared twice. Some names that appeared in 2011 are not appearing again on the list for the collection of the PVC which makes me to become worried and I be-

gan to ask questions. Even in some units where INEC registered 100 people, the register didn’t record 60 per cent success in such areas.

"This makes me to doubt INEC which smuggled 100,000 names into the voter register in Ondo State and used it to rig election. If we don't act now and let the world know that INEC is inefficient and fraudulent and that INEC has started manipulating Osun State election with this exercise, we will be doing a bad thing to Nigeria.

Union Bank kicks off Global Money Week

U

nion Bank of Nigeria Plc yesterday announced its adoption of St. Mary’s Private School, Broad Street, Lagos, as part of activities marking this year’s Global Money Week.

The initiative, according to a statement from the bank, is also in furtherance of its commitment to the achievement of Financial Inclusion in Nigeria for sustained economic growth and development.

Global Money Week (formerly Child and Youth Finance Week) is a worldwide money awareness celebration from Monday, March 10, to Monday, March 17, 2014. The initia-

tive is aimed at globally engaging children on aspects of financial education including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment and entrepreneurship.

In Nigeria, the Bankers’ Committee has designated Thursday 13th March, 2014 as Financial Literacy Day. The day is being marked to focus attention on children and youth in primary and secondary schools nationwide and to empower them by enhancing their financial knowledge and planning skills.

“Union Bank is firmly committed to the achievement of Financial Inclusion in Nigeria and we con-

tinue to work towards this aspiration by servicing otherwise under-banked businesses, communities and individuals across the country with our extensive network over 300 branches”, said Emeka Emuwa, Group Managing Director of Union Bank and Chairman of the Financial Literacy and Public Enlightenment Sub-Committee of the Bankers’ Committee.

“Beyond this, we recognise that Financial Literacy is a key enabler in our quest for Financial Inclusion and that we must begin by ensuring that our children are properly empowered with a sound financial education”.

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NEWS

Monday, March 10, 2014

PHOTO NEWS

2015: Catholic Bishops warn against misuse of incumbency powers Anule Emmanuel

T L-R: Emeritus Prof Oladipo Akinkugbe; Former Pro Chancellor, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), and Former Judge, International Court of Justice, The Hague, Prince Bola Ajibola, during the distinguished lecture in honour of Prince Ajibola/Investiture of Chief Ayorinde as Patron of University of Ibadan Law Students' Society in Ibadan …at the weekend.

he Conference of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria (CBCN) has cautioned politicians in the country to desist from attitudes of desperation in the forth-coming 2015 general elections.

President of the CBCN, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama who stated this yesterday in Abuja, said any elections chacterised by false alarms, needless court cases, hostile reaction of losers, arrogance and insensitivity of winners and misuse of incumbency powers cannot guarantee the survival of the country's democracy.

Kaigama spoke at the opening of the Catholic

l As Jonathan says rot in education inherited Bishop's Conference of Nigeria's 2014 first plenary meeting which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan. The meeting, with the theme, "Church and state partnership in providing quality education for Nigerian people," was held at the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Abuja.

"We pray for a political campaign that is free of political abracadabra, aiming to win at all costs.

Elections chacterised by false alarms, needless court cases, hostile reaction of losers, the arrogance and insensitivity of winners, misuse of incumbency powers, etc cannot catapult us into a political

paradise."

President Jonathan at the event, said the Federal Government under his watch had shown enough sincerity of purpose to tackle the problems in the education and other sectors of the economy headlong despite the fact that many of the rots prevalent in the nation's education sector were not due to any fault of his as they predated his administration.

According to President Jonathan, there is need for Christians and indeed Nigerians to continue to pray for the country since he was convinced that the nation remains united despite its challenges just because God loves it.

Saraki to Jonathan: Review your stand on opposition govs Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN. L-R: Vice Chairman, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Ikeja District Society, Mr. Seyi Ogunjobi; Chairman, Mr. Francies Egba; Guest Speaker, Mr. Dayo Akinola; Past Chairman, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Ikeja District Society, Mr. Patrick Sunni and Council Member, Mr. Tayo Philips during a lecture on 360 degree Leadership and Self-discovery held in Lagos

Winner of the ticket to Brazil in the Star Trip to Brazil promo, Segun Akpata (left) and show anchor, Gbenga Adeyinka during the Star Win a Trip to Brazil promo draws held in Lagos…at the weekend.

C

hairman Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to review his purported plan to suffocate states where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not in control.

Saraki, an ally of the President before he crossed to the All Progressive Congress (APC) told newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara state that he has also been talking with leaders of his new party on the need to

eral government may lose many things. The president made the declaration while hosting out-going Anambra state governor, Mr. Peter Obi and the incoming governor at the Presidential Villa.

But when asked for his reaction on the issue in Ilorin, Kwara state, Saraki who expressed doubt that the president could have made such a statement warned that Nigerian leaders must learn to respect their oath of office and the constitution they swore to upload, instead of submitting to sentiments.

Budget: Court orders Finance Minister to disclose statutory transfers Onwuka Nzeshi ABUJA

A L-R: Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Osun State chapter, Alhaji Isiaka Afolabi; Chairman, NURTW Ijesa Group 4, Comrade Lekan Folorunso; Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Obanla of Ijesaland, High Chief Mathew Ogedengbe, during the Governor's Endorsement for Second term in office by the NURTW, Ijesa Group 4 in Osun …yesterday.

collaborate with the federal government in finding lasting solution to the insurgency in the northern part of the country.

He expressed his conviction that stakeholders in the region should not allow their political affiliation to influence the degree of support they will give to the federal government in ending the menace posed by the insurgents.

Jonathan had last week in a veiled reference to some opposition states warned that state governors who spend their time "abusing" him and the fed-

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to publish details of all Statutory Transfers in the 2013 national budget.

Justice Abdu Kafarati of the Federal High Court gave the ruling

in a matter brought before the court by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a civil society organisation, against the Minister of Finance in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/ CS/301/2013.

The judgement came just as a civil rights organization, Anti-Corruption Network(ACN), yesterday said it had concluded plans to stage a protest over the $20billion allegedly

missing from the vaults of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The group said that the allegation of the missing funds must be investigated and warned that the suspension of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi must not be an excuse to sweep it under the carpet.

NEWS

Monday, March 10, 2014

9

Court registrar protests 'sack'

by Judge over wearing of Hijab HIJAB

Registrer alleges persecution over wearing of hijab Kunle Olayeni ABEOKUTA

A

high court registrar in Ogun State, Mrs. Zeenat Iyabode Hawwal, has alleged violation of her right to use Islamic female veil, otherwise known as hijab.

Hawwal, who has been in service for about 14 years, claimed she was sacked by Justice Adetokunbo Olusola Jibodu of an Ijebu-Igbo High Court over the use of hijab.

In a petition written to the Chief Judge of Ogun State by her counsel, Adebayo Shittu, the registrar alleged that her salary had also been withheld for two months.

Titled "Petition against continuous vio-

lation of fundamental and/or constitutional right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the temple of Justice" and dated February 12, 2014, the petition was copied to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and the state Judicial Service Commission.

Hawwal, who spoke with our correspondent on telephone, also said she had since been denied her official duty despite the fact that she was not given any disengagement letter.

According to her, she was sent packing after she was transferred from the Registry to the open court under the lordship of Justice Jibodu.

She explained that her ordeal started in April, last year, when the judge invited her to his office and ordered her to remove her hijab or risk vacating her position.

Osun picks April 5 for guber primary Adeolu Adeyemo OSOGBO.

A

s the 2014 governorship election in Osun State approaches, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the weekend announced April 5 for its governorship primary.

The Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, who revealed this to newsmen in an interview in Osogbo , hinted that the governorship candidate of the party would be picked that day.

He stressed also that in preparation for the day, there would be a ward delegates meeting of the party on the 3rd of the same month where different issues would be discussed.

Asked the venue of the event, Olaoluwa stated that they had sent a letter to the appropriate authorities to secure the Osogbo Township Stadium and expressed optimism that

the place would be approved for the exercise.

The PDP chief who maintained that all the democratic principles and the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would be applied in picking the party governorship candidate, said that all aspirants for the position would be given equal opportunities.

He gave assurance that the exercise would be transparent, free and fair and disclosed further that the national secretariat of the party would supervise the election.

Olaoluwa charged all party members to be more disciplined and work towards the advancement of the party.

He described the voters cards exercise which began in the state and lasted three days in the state, as a good exercise and commended INEC for embarking on it.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice Africa, Nico Meyer; Chairman, MultiChoice Nigeria, Adewunmi Ogunsanya; Managing Director, John Ugbe, and Managing Director, M-net Africa, Biola Alabi, during the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Award held in Lagos …at the weekend.

Bola Ige: Family faults Jonathan over Adesiyan’s appointment DISAPPOINTMENT Choice of Adesiyan once accused over Ige's murder, as Minister of Police Affairs offends the Ige family

Ayodele Ojo

T

he family of the late Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, has faulted President Goodluck Jonathan over the appointment of Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan as Minister of Police affairs.

Adesiyan was a prime suspect in the murder of Ige. Ige was assassinated in his residence at Ibadan in December 2011 while serving in the Olusegun Obasanjo cabinet as the nation’s chief law officer.

Adesiyan and Senator Iyiola Omisore were charged as murder suspects but the charges were later quashed by an Ibadan High Court.

Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, Ige’s son, Muyiwa, who is the Commissioner for Land, Regional Planning and

Urban Development in Osun State, expressed sadness over Adesiyan’s appointment.

Ige described the nomination and approval of Adesiyan by both the president and the Senate as a huge disappointment.

The commissioner, who said his father’s killers would never know peace, said in a normal clime, Adesiyan wouldn’t have been nominated for public office.

His words: “The appointment of the minister was more of selection and

Group protests another N40billion bond by Nyako Philip Nyam ABUJA

T

he Save Adamawa State Movement has accused Governor Murtala Nyako-led administration in Adamawa State of abuse of law and court process.

This is because the administration allegedly obtained a N40billion loan in form of bond in spite of a pending court action against loans by the state government The movement in a statement issued in Abuja said it was wrong for the governor to circumvent a matter pending in court by going behind to take a

bond in the twilight of the administration.

The statement signed by the chairman of the movement, Albert Stephen, noted that the implication of the action is to render the ruling of the court empty, adding that even if the movement eventually gets judgement, it will be rendered inconsequential as the damage the case sought to stop would have been done.

In the suit instituted against Nyako, the Adamawa State Government and the State House of Assembly over the $24 million loan and the new loans --- the N40 billion

bond and another N2.015 billion loan--- the Save Adamawa State Movement noted that it is clear to all that an administration with just about a year to the end of its tenure does not mean well for the State by taking such a loan.

The Adamawa State High Court presided over

by Justice Hafsat Abdulrahman, last week Thursday adjourned to April 30, 2014 for further hearing in the suit filed by Albert Stephen, Dr. Penni Poga and Dr. Francis Zira against the state government, Governor Nyako and the State House of Assembly stopping it from sourcing for over 24

not of Omoluwabi structure. We all witnessed the issue at the National Assembly. It is also the first time in the history of Nigeria that three senators from Osun State unanimously rejected the candidate and the machinery of government was used to elevate him.

“Putting Adesiyan in the Ministry of Police Affairs, someone who is having such allegation hanging on his neck, in other clime, he would not think about it. But the instrumentality of government is being used.”

million dollars loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

In adjourning the suit, the court ruled that it was to enable the plaintiffs reply to the objections of the defendants to the effect that they lack the locus standi to sue the state government regarding sourcing of loans in addition to the argument that the suit did not disclose a reasonable cause of action and to the position of the State government that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain claims questioning the capacity of the government to take loans.

However, Stephen said that as a law-abiding organization and citizens, members of the movement have faith in the administration of justice.

10 NEWS

Monday, March 10, 2014

Crisis over Deji stool as two heads emerge from ruling house CONFUSION

Crisisrocks Akure ruling house as they cannot reach consensus on next day

Babatope Okeowo AKURE

A

major crisis broke out yesterday in Osupa Ruling House, whose turn it is to produce the next Deji of Akure, the Ondo State capital as two separate lists of contestants emerged from two heads claiming the headship of the Ruling House.

While six names emerged from the faction

loyal to Dr Adebimpe Ige Ogunleye, another set of five names emerged from the faction loyal to Bishop Aladeyeye Aladegbaye.

The immediate past Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida was from the Ojijigogun Ruling House which comprises Adesida and Faturoti royal houses.

The Ojijigogun Ruling House had occupied the throne for over 100 years except for the short reign of deposed Prince Adepoju. The Osupa Ruling House, to which Adepoju belongs, is expected to produce the next monarch.

The princes of Osupa stock, who have already notified the leadership of

the ruling house of their ambitions in writing to Dr Ogunleye’s faction of the Osupa Ruling House included Prince Kole Aladetoyinbo, a United States of America (USA)based businessman, Kayode Oke Adegite, an Akure businessman and Oluwole Ogunsuyi, a Commissioner in the Ondo State Judicial Commission.

Others are Femi Adejuyigbe, an Akure sawmiller, retired Air Commodore Leye Alabi, a businessman based in Lagos and Kayode Oluwole Abewajoye who is a popular presenter with the state-owned television outfit, Ondo State Radio-vision Corporation

(OSRC).

But the faction loyal to Aladegbaye submitted the list, including that of Prince Adegbola Adelabu (who was Deji-elect before he was schemed out before deposed Deji was installed), Prince Femi Adejuyigbe and Oluyemisi Bello.

Others are William Babalola and Olu Eleko, Senior Special Assiatant to Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

The two factions of the ruling house have two secretaries, including Prince Michael Adeniyan, who is the secretary of Aladegbaye and Adebayo Adeleye who is the secretary to Dr Ogunleye.

National Conference: Accord Party threatens to sue FG over Ladoja, Nalado Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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ith about one week to the official inauguration of the proposed National Conference, the leadership of Accord Party (AP) yesterday threatened to drag the federal government to court over the choice of its former national chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Nalado and ex-Oyo State governor Rasheed Ladoja as delegates to the conference.

The Accord Party, in a statement signed by its national chairman, Reverend Isaac Adeniyi and the national Secretary, Dr. Samson Isibor

58%

The rate by which adults abstained from alcohol consumption in the past 12 months.

Source: Who.int

respectively and made available to newsmen in Benin Edo State capital, noted that the inclusion of the duo of Nalado and Ladoja as delegates for the conference amounts to an attempt by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cause crisis among members of the AP. “Accord Party wishes to state our resolve to take necessary legal action against the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria (SFG) if the anomalies leading to their inclusion into the list are not urgently ratified” in the interest of peace and unity of the country.

34%

The percentage of number states that are reported to have a National alcohol policy.

Source: Who.int

FRSC warns motorists against fake licences, number plates Kayode Olanrewaju

V L-R: Chief Missioner, Shehu Alimi Islamic Foundation (SAIF), Ustaz Hussein Arikewusola; National President, Dr. Abdulkadir Oba Solagberu; Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed and the Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Olohutoyin Busari during a courtesy call to the Governor by the Organization at Government House, Ilorin....at the weekend.

REMEMBRANCE It is unfair to abandon Mbakwe’s projects, Bishop laments

Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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he Bishop of the Diocese of Okigwe South in the Anglican Communion, Bishop David Onuoha, has berated successive administrations in Imo State over what he described as the unfair abandonment of the family of the late former Governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe and his numerous developmental projects.

Mbakwe’s family, projects abandoned, bishop laments Onuoha, who spoke yesterday during the 10th year remembrance and thanksgiving service in honour of the late governor, regretted that while the families of his contemporaries were being dutifully supported in other parts of the country, Mbakwe’s family have been largely neglected in spite of his indelible contributions to the growth and development of the present-day Imo state, Abia State and some parts of Ebonyi State.

“All the governors of

the Southwest make provisions for the upkeep of the family of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and would gather to celebrate Mama Hannah Awolowo at the slightest excuse. Also the government of Ebonyi State repaints and refurbishes the house of the late Chief Akanu Ibiam every two years, but the story is different with the family of Sam Mbakwe,” the cleric lamented.

The fiery cleric warned that the actions and inactions of

politicians in successive administrations in the state may send out wrong signals to the next generation that it does not pay to be selfless.

Listing projects constructed and completed

by Chief Sam Mbakwe in just one tenure cutting across three states in the present Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states, Bishop Onuoha lamented that most of his projects have since been abandoned. He made particular mention of the Abadaba lake resort.

ehicle owners and other motorists have been warned to be vigilant about some unscrupulous elements that have been circulating fake licenses to unsuspecting motorists in the country.

The warning was given by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at a press conference held at Makurdi, the Benue State capital, by Mr. Abayomi Olukoju, Corps Commander on behalf of the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of FRSC. “Vehicle owners and drivers are warned against using touts or any form of agents for their drivers’ licence and vehicle plate number,” he warned.

Addressing journalists, Olukoju reiterated that the deadline for the change from the old vehicle registration and drivers licence to the new ones is June 30, 2014.

According to Olukoju, the FRSC has stepped up public enlightenment on the two schemes to keep motorists abreast of the new date and the need for them to be more vigilant and not to deal with touts in obtaining their registration numbers and drivers licence.

The deadline for the change from the old regime of vehicle registration numbers and drivers licence was extended from September 30, last year to June 30, 2014, to cater for the delay originally experienced in processing and obtaining the new ones.

On the modalities of obtaining the new plate number and licence, Olukoju said: “.. the only mode of processing licenses is to complete the form on-line, payment to the bank and followed by physical appearance at the DLC where the finger print and picture will be taken, while a temporary licence will be issued thereafter.”

metr

NEW TELEGRAPH

11

www.newtelegraphonline.com/metro

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Monday, MARCH 10, 2014

0802 393 8212

Allen Avenue, home to dubious bureau de change agents

A typical day on Allen Avenue, Ikeja

Unsuspicious Nigerians lose thousands of naira to fraudulent bureau de change operators in Ikeja, the capital of the Centre of Excellence, writes CAMILLUS NNAJI

F

ake bureau de change operators have intensified their activities in parts of Lagos metropolis.

The operators, who specialise in changing naira notes to foreign currencies and vice versa, are in almost every part of the popular Allen Avenue in Ikeja, but they are more at Alade Shopping Mall and Airport Hotel area on Obafemi Awolowo Way. Most of them are fake bureau de change operators, who are experts in duping unsuspicious Nigerians.

Many people have, in recent times, lost huge sums of money to these dubious operators.

One of them, a 65-year-old man, recounted his ordeals in the hands of the operators.

The man, who craved anonymity, said he was duped of N160,000, out of the $2,500 he went to Allen Avenue to change. The victim said he was at a loss over how they stole his money.

Another victim went to change $400 to pay her school fees. The money amounted to about N60,000, she was defrauded N35,000.

When contacted, some licenced bureau de change operators said they were aware of the activities of thieves parading as agents of genuine operators.

One of them, who gave his name simply as Mohammed, said they are tired of

the bad image the thieves are giving the licenced operators.

He said: “This crime takes place every minute on Allen Avenue here. It is very unfortunate that innocent people are duped of their hard earned money. Even when you called the police, they will not respond.

“From Zenith Bank area through Tantalizers down to Airport Hotel, the crime is committed on a daily basis with impunity by the perpetrators. The worst aspect is

that they collaborate with the police who will get their own share after the fraud.

When they defraud someone, they immediately change position or change clothes.”

According Mohammed, the victims are usually innocent people who have come for the first time to change money.

He said: “You will see the thieves with huge amount of money in their hands and calculators calling; ‘dollars N170, N180.’ But when a passer-by hears this, he may think that the price is very good as he is the one selling while they are buying.

“However, in the process of changing the money, the fraudster will count but he will deliberately omit one note and hand over to the victim who after recounting will tell

him it is not complete.

“The fraudster will express fake surprise and quickly collect the money, recount and bring out the one note from his pocket and ask the victim to count with him.

“But as he is counting, unknown to the victim, he will use his last two fingers to divide the money into two. They will continue to count together until the said amount is reached.

“Satisfied with the counting, the victim will take the divided money and leave.”

Some victims, according to Mohammed, will rush back immediately to the scene of the transaction while others will only know they were duped when they have reached their homes. But before they come back, the fraudsters would have disappeared.

“A huge amount of money is stolen each day from innocent people,” Mohammed added.

Asked what anyone who wants to change money should do, he said; “if the agent does not have an office with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licence, then your transaction with him remains risky”.

Another licensed agent, who gave his name as Ibrahim, said the activities of the fraudsters had impacted negatively on some people.

He said: “Many people have been sacked from their jobs because they could not return their bosses money they went to change.

“A boss may find it hard to believe the subordinate was a victim of fraud.”

Ibrahim advised people not to change money on the roadside again but, go into offices of licenced operators.

Baraje’s son’s kidnappers bag 22 years jail term Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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n Ilorin High Court has sentenced two men, who kidnapped Abiodun Abdulkadir Baraje to 22 years imprisonment.

Abiodun is the son of former acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

The two men, Ajadi Oba AbdulRasheed and Abayomi Ayeni, were convicted for criminal conspiracy to commit kidnap, extortion and armed robbery, contrary to Section 97 of the

Penal Code.

The convicts committed the offence on February 4, 2010 at Success and Regards Filling Station on Asa Dam Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.

AbdulRasheed was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on the first and second charges of kidnapping and extortion and a fine of N100,000 while Abayomi bagged 10 years on the first and second charges and a fine of N100,000. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Two others connected with the offences, Rasaq and Yakubu AbdulRasaq also known as Alfa Taiye, are

still at large, according to court records.

Delivering the judgement in Ilorin, Justice Mahmud AbdulGafar, said he found the accused guilty of conspiracy to commit abduction of Baraje, contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code.

The court also found the accused guilty of conspiracy and extortion of 100,000 dollars from Bilikis Baraje (wife of Abiodun Baraje) as a result of threat that her husband would be killed if the money was not paid, which the judge said was contrary to Section 292 of the Penal Code.

12

METRO

Monday, Mar

Why I left preaching for robbery – Su THOU SHALL STEAL A man embraces armed robbery, after winning many souls for God Juliana Francis

T

wenty-six-year old Nsika Akpan was a man of God. He preached His word with fervent zeal. But that was when he was still in God’s vineyard.

The once preacher threw away the Bible and replaced it with guns.

Akpan, now in police custody for armed robbery, told NT Metro, he gave his life to God after a neighbour preached to him and invited him to their church.

He had joined the church drama group and embarked on evangelism and won so many souls for God. But for reasons he could not fathom, he later took to crime.

Asked why he abandoned God, Akpan bowed his head down for several minutes as he fought tears.

In an emotional-laden voice, he said: “I left God and the church because my neighbour who took me to the church became too jealous of me. I’m, however, suffering today in police custody because God is angry with me and is punishing me.

“After I left God, a man of God told me that I would suffer for it. He said God would punish me. I didn’t believe him then, but now I do. If there is a second chance, I would reaffirm my faith in God.” Akpan was arrested alongside two other suspects, Nsidewu Akpan (24) and Friday Otu (25). The three of them are all from Cross River State.

The weapons

Nsika Akpan

After their arrest, the police recovered AK47 rifle from the gang. It was believed that the suspects killed the owner and made away with his gun.

Also recovered from the suspects is one cut to size English double barrel gun.

It was learnt that the gang comprised of eight members, but police had been able to arrest the three of them, while the hunt for others continues.

Detectives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State also discovered that on February 1, about 7:30pm, the suspects stormed a building located at Old Ojo Road, Agboju, where they attacked one Agedo Sunday, a businessman.

“We got information that Sunday had millions in his car. When

CASH FLOW In a desperate bid to beat the CBN cashless policy, a man opens 25 accounts with a bank within three days Juliana Francis

F

or allegedly opening 25 savings account with a bank within three days with different names, a man has been arrested in Lagos.

The 39-year-old suspect, Okonkwo Nwachukwu, was arrested by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Force, Milverton, Ikoyi, when he went to another branch of Zenith Bank to open the 26th account.

Detectives attached to the SFU believed that the suspect had defrauded many financial institutions.

However, Nwachukwu denied doing anything fraudulent with the several accounts, stressing that he had to open them

Friday

we attacked him, there was no money in his car. He took us to his factory and we got just N800,000,” the suspects reportedly said.

According to the police, the three suspects went for the operation on a motorcycle. After dispossessing the victim of his money at gunpoint, they went away with the man’s Liberty jeep. They later abandoned the vehicle along the road.

On February 26, the suspects prepared for another operation, after using N200,000 from the N800,000 to rent a rifle. Their informant told them that a bank customer had N18 million in his possession.

They were, however, shocked when policemen surrounded them around Ilasamaja area of the metropolis.

Investigation revealed that Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyarri, got a tip-off about the gang’s planned operation and laid an ambush.

The OC SARS ordered a decoy team, led by a police officer simply known as ‘Authority,’ to trail the suspects. It was after the police surrounded and searched their vehicle that the slain policeman’s rifle was discovered. The English double barrel gun, with cartridges and AK47 rifle’s ammunition concealed in a travelling bag were recovered.

The police also discovered assorted charms.

Nsidewu, who said he was a professional footballer and was playing for two clubs, said he did not plan to go into robbery, but only did that after his friend, Bashiru, told him about a guy he found under a bridge.

Nsidewu and Bashiru used to work in a company before they both quit.

He said: “Bashiru told me about a man who has money, that we should collect the money. I told him that I

would tell my friend, who had a gun and find out if the gun was still with him. I told Bashiru that I would get back to him.”

Recalling how they attacked Sunday, Nsidewu said they struck about 8am, when the man was about to enter his car.

He said: “But the money was not in his car. We took him back to the company at gunpoint and collected N800,000. We were supposed to rob a man at Ilasamaja of N18 million.

“The information we got was that the man sells iron rods and had just returned from overseas. We were in a friend’s borrowed Camry car and were heading for the operation when police surrounded us. We were all shocked! I don’t know why I left football to join robbery! It’s devil’s doing.”

Stating his own side of the story, Otu said he used to sell salt at Boundary Market at Ajegunle before he took to crime.

Otu, who is the only son of his mother, said he dropped out of school in Junior Secondary School

(JS T mo car ed: my and live the O sto com to v H frie T-b had eac ing told We we W frie him H N8 tha T-b

Man opens 25 bank accounts because of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy.

The SFU spokesperson, Ngozi IsintumeAgu, said the unit received a petition dated February 12, alleging that Nwachukwu appeared at Amuwo Odofin branch of Zenith Bank to open a savings account and presented an already completed savings account opening package with the name Obiozor Ifeanyi. He had also identified himself as such with a National Identity Card.

The petitioner, according to IsintumeAgu, said that while the customer service officer was checking the documents, the suspect went to the Marketing Unit and collected another savings account opening package and completed same with another name Ogueji Nnamdi and returned to the Customer Service Desk and presented same for account opening with another Nwachukwu

National Identity Card bearing Ogueji Nnamdi.

She said: “The petitioner told us that this attempt to open another savings account, within minutes with another identity, made the customer service officer to become suspicious.

“She decided to search the system with phone number 08162502677, which had been supplied by the suspect and discovered that he had already opened about 25 savings accounts at various branches bearing different names.

“It was also further alleged that he opened and operates a corporate account number 1012000129 belonging to Chukon Integrated Limited and he also identified himself as Okonkwo Nwachukwu when he opened the said account.”

According to the SFU image maker, Nwachukwu is from Okija Ihiala Local

Gover She accom He sta 4, Sho “Th crime he ope ness s policy sums he wa as to s Isin also e 15 diff accou respec Acc confes the ut

POLITICS

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/politics

ayodele Ojo

Deputy Editor, politics

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Obasanjo out to destabilise Jonathan’s government –Okurounmu

p-14, 15

Monday, March 10, 2014

APC: Roadmap to Nigeria’s recovery!

POLITICAL NOTES National Conference

Family affair?

I

L-R: Ikimi, Osoba, Onu, Tinubu, Akande, Buhari, Atiku and others at the summit.

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) took a bold step to convince Nigerians that it has the capacity to change Nigeria’s fortunes. To do this, the party, last Thursday, presented a roadmap to redress what it called “15 years of failed government under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

JULIUS TOBA reports.

O

n Thursday March 6, speaker after speaker at the 2014 National Summit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) spoke about how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has failed Nigerians in the last 15 years. They identified corruption, unstable power supply, insecurity in the North-East, infrastructural decay and poverty as key areas where the PDP had failed.

To redress the situation, the party rolled out what it called a new lease of life tagged “Roadmap to a New Nigeria”.

The event held in Abuja had in attendance who is who in the leading opposition party. The APC national leaders, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the 16 state governors, including its National Assembly members spoke against PDP where some of them left just two months ago.

Through the 19-page document, APC leadership tabled mouth-watering offers before Nigerians. They also gave reasons why PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan must be voted out of office in 2015. For instance, Abubakar warned that “if PDP continues beyond 2015, we will have a civilian dictator” in President Jonathan.

The former vice president used the occassion to criticise the 15 years of PDP rule, having held number two position in the party for eight years. Same goes to Chief Audu Ogbeh, former PDP National Chairman who said “PDP has created more unemployment than jobs since 1999.”

Also, Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, led his colleagues to speak against PDP. Senators Akume, Danjuma Goje and

CROSSFIRE

Lagos has over Do you know what N400 billion debt it cost to provide with nothing to monorail from show for it? These Badagry to Ijora? If you loans are not in don’t borrow money the interest of the to develop it now, it state because there would take you 10 is no difference times cost to develop between the amount borrowed it in future. There is no country or state that and the level of development doesn’t borrow money -Adeseye Ogunlewe -Anthony Adefuye

Bukola Saraki all served under PDP as governors for eight years too. They all cited corruption as the bane of all successive PDP Federal Government including that of Jonathan.

The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajibiamila, who led the House Caucus to the event spoke on “A new Nigeria”. The lawmaker spoke about “a new Nigeria where no child will be left behind and education will be a right and not a privilege and where being shoeless will no longer mean being clueless.”

“This movement for a new Nigeria crosses ethnic barriers, a cross border movement from the sleepy mountains of Plateau to the creeks of the Niger Delta. It is a movement for A Permanent Cure, which is my own definition for the acronym APC,” he said.

Governors speak: PDP under hammer Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, who opened the summit with an inaugural speech, talked more of the future. A future, according to him, which will guarantee every Nigerian a better welfare package and human capital development.

Fashola hammered more on the urgent need for provision of basic needs and education for all Nigerians irrespective of the creed.

According to him, “the APC is something completely new in Nigerian politics and we will do things differently than they’ve ever been done before. We’re just not going to talk about change; we’re going to embody change.”

He said: “APC is a home for all Nigerians irrespective of where you come from. We CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

t is no longer news that the Federal Government has released the list of 492 delegates to partake in the National Conference being put together to discuss Nigeria’s future.

Among delegates representing the South-West is Afenifere Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin. He won’t be alone in Abuja, the venue of the confab, as his wife, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, will be there too.

Joe, as she is fondly called, is a delegate for the Civil Society Organisations, courtesy of her position as President, Women Arise for Change Initiative and Campaign for Democracy.

The Odumakins are the only couple in the country attending the National Conference as delegates.

No doubt, the couples have paid their dues in the struggle to make Nigeria a better place for us all. Yinka as a top ranking member of the Afenifere has over time spoken out on ills militating against the growth and development of democracy in the country.

Even though he spoke from the Yoruba point of view, he no doubt mirrored the thoughts and worries of many other Nigerians from other ethnic groups.

His wife, Joe, on the other hand has always been in the forefront of the fight to uphold the dignity and rights of women and children in the country.

Her struggles have taken her to detentions centres. Joe’s brushes with law enforcement agents have left scares on her, both physical and otherwise.

The couple is now among the select few, who have been hand-picked by their respective organisations to put together, a roadmap for the country. They have left the home front, yet again to campaign for a better Nigeria. But one cannot help but wonder, is the confab a family affair?

14 POLITICS | MONDAY DIALOGUE Senator Femi Okurounmu, a known Awoist and former don, is passionate about a new Nigeria where there will be equal opportunities.

He feels that the National Conference has the potential to return Nigeria to the path of greatness.

Until recently, he was the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference. In this interview with AYODELE OJO and TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE in Abeokuta, he speaks on the import of the confab, why former President Olusegun Obasanjo is out to destabilise the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, corruption and politics of South-West, among other national issues. Excerpts: The national conference that you midwifed is about taking off; do you feel fulfilled?

Yes, I feel happy and fulfilled. I feel fulfilled because when the President first mooted the idea in his October 1, 2013 broadcast, a lot of Nigerians were sceptical and in fact hostile to the idea. All along, the North has never liked the idea of a national conference. If we in the South-West have been agitating for it, the North has always exhibited a lukewarm attitude.

To make matters worse, when the President announced the idea, the first opposition to it came from the same South-West.

That meant that the governors in the South-West and the North were against it. So, my committee had an uphill task to make the country accept the fact we need a national conference. That is why today I feel gratified that everybody is clamouring to be a delegate. Even our governors, who under Tinubu called it all sorts of bad names and swore not to have anything to do with it, are the ones now struggling to take over the nomination of delegates.

It gives me satisfaction that the North has accepted that we need a conference; the South-West, which had always been in the vanguard of the campaign have mobilised the people who have now told the governors that they are not speaking for them. In spite of the governors’ opposition, the people have embraced the conference.

The governors knew that they risked losing the next elections if they didn’t change their earlier position. They realised that they were governors of the people and not just the APC. They embraced it because of their own survival. They knew that if they didn’t embrace it, the run the risk of alienating the people.

One of the contentious issues about the confab is subjecting the outcome of the conference to the ratification of the National Assembly. Why not a referendum?

The position of the majority of the people including myself is that the outcome of the conference be subjected to a referendum. On the other hand, the posi-

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Obasanjo out to destabilise tion of some others, who are also critical in Nigeria, is that the outcome should go to the National Assembly. Now, not only that we have to take care of the sensitivity of these people, we must also take care of the sensitivity of the relationship between the executive and the National Assembly.

Right now, the relationship between the executive and the National Assembly is not so cordial.

The National Assembly definitely does not want the outcome to go for a referendum; they want it to come to them. So, we have to balance all these considerations and say look, you want this thing to go for a referendum, but it is better you allow the conference itself after its decisions, to decide if it wants a referendum. That would be a more effective thing that will not pitch the President against the National Assembly.

So, Nigerians at the conference will decide whether they want the outcome to go for a referendum or to the National Assembly. Whatever Nigerians decide, that is their choice. That was the position of my committee and I think that is the most reasonable position. Rather than decide for them, let the conference itself take that decision.

How about the issue of no-go area?

The issue is simple. There is only one no-go area, which is: Don’t talk about dissolving or breaking up Nigeria. And I think that there is nobody who would be a president, who will say that you are free to break up Nigeria. I mean it doesn’t make sense. The President is the president of Nigeria and nobody will want Nigeria to break up under his own watch. Naturally any president from any party will give the same no-go area. So, I don’t consider that a no-go area because most Nigerians intuitively accept that we want this country to remain one; we don’t want it divided or broken up. We all intuitively accept it.

Maybe if there are considerable issues, the conference will take its own cause, but we cannot go to the conference ab initio to ask for a break up of Nigeria.

What do you think should be the main focus of the conference?

The structure of Nigeria is very critical. The political structure of Nigeria is critical. The kind of federalism that we are going to have is also critical; what power will the Federal Government and the federating units have is also very important.

What form of government should we have; should we continue with this executive presidential system or should we go back to the parliamentary system? There are arguments for and against, but these are the things that should be argued out on the floor of the conference. Then the issue of fiscal federalism, what some people call resource control is also very critical. Also, the issue of immunity for some political office holders is going to come up. Do we give our governors and president immunity from criminal prosecution and they continue to cause havoc in the system. These are the issues that must be resolved.

Then of course the issue of religion. Religion is one of those things destabilising

Okurounmu

Nigeria today. So, should we have a secular nation or should we have a nation that supports some forms of religion. If you have a secular state, then the state would completely hands off religion. The state would not sponsor any pilgrimage either to Mecca, Rome or Jerusalem. Anybody who wants to go to Rome or Mecca will go on his own account. Religion would not become an issue when you are employing people; you won’t even need to ask them for their religion. Every citizen would be treated equally regardless of religion. So, the issue on how we treat religion is very important. Again, who is an indigene, who is a settler? This is another critical issue.

I don’t think Obasanjo listens to knowledgeable people who can tell him honestly and frankly what they think about him.

All the accusations he is levelling against Jonathan were accusations levelled against him when he was president

There are people who feel that the outcome of the conference would determine the fate of the 2015 elections. Do you share similar sentiment?

It is possible. Why not? It is a possibility.

I am sure if the outcome of the conference turns out to be very positive, very constructive, no violent, no indiscipline and we were able to harmoniously arrived at a new order. Surely, it will affect the 2015 elections.

Some people are still sceptical about the National Conference, saying it may end up being a jamboree just like the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference.

The 2005 National Political Reforms Conference cannot be compared with this one. The 2005 conference was set up primarily for the third term agenda of the sitting President, Obasanjo. That was mostly what he was interested in and he told us that we could not discuss anything about the change of government or structure of the federation. So, if some of the things that are very critical issues, which I have mentioned before as important issues were taken out of the agenda, then there is no need for conference.

You believe that the 2005 conference was a jamboree.

Well, I don’t know. I won’t call it a jambo-

POLITICS POLITICS | MONDAY DIALOGUE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

15

Jonathan’s government –Okurounmu The whole government has been captured by the corrupt elite. The people who have made billions they surround the president just as they surrounded Obasanjo. So, it is difficult for the president to start dealing with those who put him in power lawmakers?

The fact that these defections are taking place without any scruples shows there is little difference between the two parties.

When we were in the Senate between 1999 and 2003, we had about four of us who defected from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the PDP. It was as if they committed the most grievous crime that one could commit. They became blacklisted among the AD people and the PDP people only welcomed them reluctantly because they couldn’t trust them. But now, defection has become so routine that today you are in APC and cross over to PDP and tomorrow another people from PDP changed over to APC, all depending on where and what their governors did. In other words, people who are supposed to be responsible, who should be able to think for themselves, just follow their governors like sheep. It only shows that we don’t have thinking people.

That is why I said we have one man rule.

The only man who rules in any state is the governor and others are supposed to be unthinking followers because if they are thinking followers, everybody should be able to make up his own mind.

Do you see APC as a better choice or alternative to the ruling party?

No! I don’t. ree but it did not achieve even what the author, his architect wanted to achieve. So, he just forgot about all the recommendations.

The main goal was to have a third term.

So, if the present administration also has perceived ambition about this present conference....

I think this administration in all fairness has tried to show that it has no hidden agenda and I can say as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, that if the government has a hidden agenda, I would be privy to it. The administration has shown convincingly that it has no hidden agenda.

That is why it said every issue under the sun can be discussed except the break-up of Nigeria. So, we can discuss anything.

How do you feel taking part in the 2005 National Political Reform Conference, serving as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference and going to the forthcoming national conference as a delegate?

I have gotten a lot of experience and I know exactly how things proceed there. So, I think it is an advantage that I am going back again. I would make my own contribution as a delegate representing Yoruba nation.

How do you see the issue of defection of

Why? Even with the roadmap they have come out with?

I have told you that the two parties are two sides of the same coin. The roadmap is an academic exercise. Anybody can sit down and write. You think all these people have not been writing beautiful manifestoes before. You can write beautiful manifestoes but the manifestoes are thrown away the day it has been launched. That is what the political parties have been doing.

They don’t even look at it again.

Do you think the North’s quest for power shift won’t heat up the polity ahead of 2015?

You know everybody has a right to seek for the presidency. So, the North has a right just as Jonathan has a right. Everybody has a right. So, there is nothing heating up the system there.

There is a crisis of confidence between President Jonathan and Obasanjo, which has made the former President to accuse Jonathan of breaching one-term agreement and encouraging corruption. How do you see the relationship between Jonathan and Obasanjo?

I don’t think Obasanjo listens to knowledgeable people who can tell him honestly and frankly what they think about him. All the accusations he is levelling against Jonathan were accusations levelled against

him when he was president. They were all things he was guilty of when he was president.

Let us start from assassination. There has been no assassination of political figures under Jonathan. Under Obasanjo, there were regular occurrences to the extent that people even suspected him of Bola Ige murder, his own Attorney General of the Federation. About whether Jonathan signed a one-term agreement or not, the same thing was said of Obasanjo that he signed an agreement to run for one term.

All of us rose up to defend him then that even if he signed an agreement, that agreement was null and void because it is not an agreement with the Nigerian people.

We all rose up in his defence that he didn’t sign any agreement and if he signed, it is null and void.

Now, he is now making same charge against Jonathan that he signed an agreement. It is amazing and people forget so soon. In terms of encouraging corruption, In fact, corruption has been getting worse under each leader. From Babangida, Abacha, Abubakar, Obasanjo and Yar’Adua governments, it has been getting worse.

The reason for that is because all the corrupt people are the ones who encircled the man in power, so the man in power cannot deal with them.

The whole government has been captured by the corrupt elite. The people who have made billions they surround the president just as they surrounded Obasanjo. So, it is difficult for the president to start dealing with those who put him in power. So, I have not seen a single accusation levelled

by Obasanjo against Jonathan of which Obasanjo was not guiltier when he was in power. That is my view.

Would you say Obasanjo was wrong in his letter to the president ...

See, Obasanjo wants to be an emperor.

Even when he is out of government he still wants to continue governing. I think that must be the problem between him and Jon-

athan. Normally in any civilised countries, when you finish your term, you sit down quietly. The country can only have one president at a time. No matter how popular the American president is, as soon as he finishes his term, he retires. He doesn’t keep dabbling into governance and telling the new president how to govern and what to do. But Obasanjo wants to be president outside Aso Rock, telling the man inside Aso Rock how he must govern. That is the problem we are having in Nigeria today. If he cannot do that then he must destabilise that government.

So, Obasanjo is out to destabilise Jonathan’s government. In fact, Obasanjo is in sync with APC to destabilise Jonathan government. So, Obasanjo is now an enemy within as far as PDP is concern. Even though he says he still carries PDP card, he is really working with APC. Why did you say he is working with APC? Is it because the APC leaders visited him?

They visited him and invited him to be the captain of their ship, to steer them and he didn’t reject it. He only said he is still a member of the PDP. But then, Rotimi Amaechi invited him to commission some of his projects, instead of the sitting president and he went. Amaechi is known to be an APC governor.

But some governors have invited Obasanjo and other former Heads of State to commission their projects in the past.

I am not aware.

Obasanjo has become a force. Governors, Aminu Tambuwal and others are now coming to consult with him.

All those you mentioned are APC figures. Tambuwal is PDP outwardly but APC inwardly. APC made him Speaker of the House. Governor Rabiu Kwankanso is Obasanjo’s choice for the next president, he said so long ago and Amaechi is his choice for vice president. So, Obasanjo has determined who our next rulers would be. To achieve this, he must destabilise Jonathan.

That is why the entire APC figures are going there because he is working towards an APC agenda in the presidential election.

Do you think Obasanjo would be a factor in 2015?

Yes, he would be a factor. He is already a factor. He would be a factor during the campaign and the election.

Don’t you see Jonathan and Obasanjo reconciling?

It is possible. Nothing is impossible in Nigeria politics.

What is your relationship with Obasanjo?

We have a very good relationship.

We are not close friends and we are not enemies.

But he contributed to your loss of 2003 re-election.

That was a long time ago. If you don’t forget the past, you won’t have any friends.

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 8

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APC’s roadmap: Another waiting CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

must live together as a people, because APC has chosen unity. In APC, we believe that our future must be socially and economically vibrant.

“The fight against corruption must be tough in all our dealings because APC is preparing to build a New Nigeria and lead Africa. There is a strong link between corruption and system failure. This roadmap will be our guiding principles to do things differently.”

On his part, Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State decried the PDP-led government over what he termed as lawlessness. He said: “PDP has developed total impunity for law of the land. The party stands for everything that is lawless.

“We in Adamawa cannot work together with these forces of evil. It has been observed that leaders of PDP are above the law and with our brooms we shall sweep away all their acts of impunity. We must return respect to Nigerians and Nigeria in international community.”

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers assured that APC would give Nigerians rule of law, “but not the kind that is now being given by PDP. Not the type where the president threatens state governors like me.”

“I don’t know maybe some of you have read it in the media that the 2014 budget does not have a single project appropriated for us in Rivers State just because he has a disagreement with one man, who is a governor. APC will address inequality.

In fact, I’m proud to be in APC. That’s the new Nigeria and that’s where I want to be,” Amaechi said.

For Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, the time has come for a change. He condemned various statistics being reeled out

by PDP on the economy.

He said: “We are today fed with statistics that Nigeria is the fastest growing economy in the world. Yet, it is unfortunate that they agree that poverty is growing so fast on daily basis.

“Economy is not a rocket science; it is simple arithmetic which can be seen on the lives of individuals. Jobs cannot be created by miracles; there are no miracles in the life of nations.”

The Edo State governor also bemoaned the PDP leadership. “Today, 15 years of the PDP, our refineries are grounded. We are yet still arguing over how much we spend on subsidy. Nigerian leaders are ready to confuse the people using the ethnic card, but Nigerians are wiser now.

“Nigeria is posting a negative human index; PDP has failed since 1999. I have concluded that as PDP is still in power, Nigerians will continue to be without power,” he noted.

On his part, governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, challenged all the state governors present at the event to live by example, saying that “every individual has a role to play in fighting corruption.

Ezekwesili counsels Former Minister of Education, Mrs

The fight against corruption must be tough in all our dealings because APC is preparing to build a New Nigeria and lead Africa. There is a strong link between corruption and system failure. This roadmap will be our guiding principles to do things differently Obiageli Ezekwesili, who was a guest speaker at the summit, did not mince words in her presentation, taking time to trace socio-political setback in the country to politicians including those of APC stock.

The former minister tasked politicians to address poverty and corruption as the two greatest enemies of Nigeria. “Our nation asks all of you irrespective of the acronyms that thread together to make you a political party in this land today, to immediately mobilise all Nigerians against the immediate common enemies killing our own within our territory,” she said.

On the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, she said: “I advise that 2014 offers all political actors in Nigeria, the opportunity to immediately unite and decisively take our country back from terrorists.

This is my most important economic message for your gathering. As the leading opposition party in the country, your leadership must be visible in demonstrating a commitment to reaching out to the government to commence a united fight to preserve the lives of all citizens.”

Obiageli went further : “Economic research has proven that there can be no development without peace. Your act of transcendental leadership across your various divides in Nigerian politics of today, will not only end this fatal insecurity in our country, but will actually start the process of healing of land and the people.

The healing of our land and people will in turn begin the process of rebuilding the eroded social capital that we must have for nation building process.”

The roadmap The APC looks optimistic to deliver and effect positive changes in the life of Nigerians using the roadmap as a guide to fight corruption. Some of the key elements in the roadmap, if tailored along with sincere intentions, could also mean well for ordinary masses.

The roadmap has focuses on job creation, fight against corruption, free qualitative education, restoration of agriculture and housing plan.

Others are healthcare plan for children and adults, social welfare plan for the less privilege, building of roads, power and infrastructure, better management of national resources, strengthening of peace and foreign policy will be brought to the doorsteps of ordinary Nigerians if voted

L-R: Governors Amosun, Wamakko, Nyako, Oshiomhole, Al-Makura, Fashola, Ahmed, Kwankwaso and Okorocha.

to office in 2015.

Job creation Under job creation, the party said it will create minimum of 20,000 jobs per state for those with secondary school certificates. It also promised to provide allowances to discharged but unemployed NYSC members for 12 months pending the time they secure employment.

The party said it will encourage state governments to focus on employment creation by matching every one job created by the state government through funding with two jobs created by the Federal Government in the same state. It stated that direct conditional monthly cash transfers of N5,000 to the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon demonstration of children’s enrolment in school and immunization, to help promote job empowerment. In addition, the party says it will establish Technology/Industrial Estates fully equipped with ICT, power and other support across the country to attract and encourage small-scale technology businesses and other entrepreneurs.

To create more avenues for job opportunities, APC said its government will establish plants for the assembly and ultimately the manufacture of phones, tablets, computers and other devices.

Corruption The party lamented the effect of corruption thus: “Corruption is crippling Nigeria. Bribes and shady deals come at the expense of real productivity by businesses and government, and prevent us from investing properly into education, roads and healthcare – the services people need to live better lives. A leading international organisation cites Nigeria as having one of the highest levels of corruption in the world, a true badge of shame.”

The APC said it will fight corruption with zeal in various means, including: show zero tolerance for official and/or private sector corruption; place the burden of proving innocence in corruption cases on persons with inexplicable wealth; pursue legislation expanding forfeiture and seizure of assets laws and procedure with respect to inexplicable wealth, regardless

of whether there is a conviction for criminal conduct or not; strengthen legal provisions to prevent stay of proceedings and other delays in corruption trials; guarantee the independence of anti-corruption and financial crimes agencies by legislation, charging their budgets directly to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Also, the party said it will stop corruption in elections, by making the Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) truly independent and free from political interference.

“We will improve the ability of citizens to keep an eye on their government, with more open access to government data, greater disclosure of government contracts prior to awards and during implementation, and ensuring the people’s business is done in an open and transparent way.

“We will create a vibrant economy where jobs and opportunities are more readily available, every individual, civil servant, business and government leader must play by the same rules, obey the law and reject the temptation of bribery and corruption,” the roadmap stated.

Education In the education sector, APC pledged to revamp the curricular and provide free tertiary education to education majors and stipends prior to their employment.

Aside from a promise of free meal per day per child, APC said it would dedicate special attention to education of girls.

The APC in its roadmap for education revival, promised to make the right of every Nigerian child to receive a free, relevant and quality education a reality, based on free and comprehensive primary and secondary education.

The party said it will provide free tertiary education to students pursuing Science and Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM); provide free tertiary education to education majors and stipends prior to their employment as teachers; create incentives and dedicate special attention to the education of girls; ensure every child attending primary school is properly nourished and ready to learn by providing a free meal a day; invest

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

game for Nigerians? one million low-cost houses within four years for the poor.

L-R: Saraki, Fayemi and Aregbesola.

in better equipping and staffing teacher training colleges and provide financial and progression incentives to attract and retain good teachers; revamp and restructure education curricula from primary to tertiary levels with a view to ensuring students acquire the right skills for employment, entrepreneurship and innovation,” the party stated.

Healthcare In the health sector, APC said it is poised to embark on legislation to stop all medical tourism abroad at government expense.

This is so profound especially at a time Nigerians are said to be spending an average of N78 billion annually on medical tourism to Germany, India, Egypt and United States alone.

In the roadmap, the party said it will provide free quality comprehensive health care based on a national health insurance scheme; stop all travels abroad at government expense for the purpose of medical treatment; encourage medical professionals to establish practices and work in rural and medically underserved areas, by providing incentives including tuition and other training reimbursement for such professionals; provide incentives for Nigerian doctors and health practitioners working abroad to return home, to strengthen the health care industry in Nigeria and provide quality care to those who need it.

Restoring agriculture The party recalled that Nigeria was once a leading agricultural producer, helping feed other parts of the world. It stated: “Today, our decline in productivity means we must import essential goods like wheat, rice, sugar and milk, costing us billions every year. With 40 per cent of our land able to support farming, Nigerian agriculture can and must be restored to move families from subsistence farming, create new jobs in agriculture and related fields, and provide the accessible and affordable supply of food necessary to feed a nation.”

Its roadmap for repositioning the agricultural sector includes: provide a government-guaranteed market for agricultural

A new Nigeria where no child will be left behind and education will be a right and not a privilege and where being shoeless will no longer mean being clueless produce at world index-linked prices; revive agriculture as an engine for economic growth and new jobs, including the expansion of agricultural processing and manufacturing; aid subsistence farmers in increasing food production and creating jobs by modernising and commercialising farm production, and increase the availability of loans and capital investments for small and medium-scale cash crops.

Infrastructure The opposition party said it will address the infrastructural challenges in the country. “A Nigerian economy that produces jobs requires a modern day infrastructure that includes affordable and reliable power, quality roads and improved transportation,” APC observed.

The party noted that Nigeria’s lack of reliable electricity and poor transportation system have made business activities and the movement of people and goods more difficult, raised the cost of living and caused needless deaths and property loss.

In this regard, the party said it will provide captive power to critical facilities; build an integrated gas pipeline across Nigeria to increase the availability of clean energy at a lower cost; construct an interstate rail and highway system that links major cities and centres of production; increase Nigeria’s broadband Internet capacity through a national fibre-optics network to spur economic growth and create thousands of new jobs; and develop an integrated inter-modal transport system that maximises the transportation of goods, raw materials and people.

The party assured that it will construct

PDP kicks The PDP has described the manifesto as a roadmap to anarchy, coming from all anti-democratic coalitions.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the APC manifesto lacked “character and depth.”

Metuh said the APC has no credible recipe for job creation nor has it shown the strength of character to fight corruption more than the PDP does at the moment.

“The PDP created anti-corruption agencies- the ICPC, the EFCC and established the Freedom of Information Act to further give teeth to the war on graft.

The PDP-led Federal Government has also shown no preferences in its battle on corruption as senior party leaders as well as relations have at one time or another been made to face the law on charges of corruption.

“On the contrary, the leaders of the APC are the grand patrons of corruption as could be seen from the South-West APC states where a kilometre of road is awarded at N1 billion in a topography that compares nowhere to the marshy SouthSouth and where the self-styled leader imperially superintendents the finances of six states with mind boggling cases of corruption,” Metuh added.

Metuh said the manifesto which ranked security of lives and property low and gave no clue as to its preparedness to tackle terrorism, was a tacit acknowledgment that the APC may be benefiting from the mayhem, alleging that the party knows more about the spate of terror attacks in the country.

“When last year in its first official outing, the leaders of the APC said terrorism in Nigeria would disappear within 100 days of APC leadership, Nigerians did ask if they knew the characters in crime and their sponsors. APC gave silence as an answer while Nigerians kept wondering.

Today, the party has released its manifesto with loud silence on the matter so that Nigerians would not raise further questions on the face behind the terrorism mask,” the PDP spokesman noted.

According to him, nothing showcases the anti-democratic ambience of the APC than its inability to conduct a properly constituted congresses and convention to elect its substantive officers almost a

Ezekwesili

POLITICS 17 year after formation.

“The strange bedfellows have merged but the structures are refusing to integrate, hence, crisis and disagreements in its ranks,” he said.

He further described as tissue of lies, the claim by the APC that it was the first party to lunch a code of conduct.

“In 2006, the PDP launched a comprehensive code of conduct under an ominibus entitled “Survival Kit.” This kit contained documents such as Desirable Qualities of a Member and Code of Conduct for PDP aspirants and candidates.

“We also have the Peoples Democratic Institute, an intellectual arm of the party whose major work is the systemic research, inculcation and internalisation of democratic ethos,” he stated.

Musa, Okorie, Kaze react Former governor of old Kaduna State and leader of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said: “I have not read it, but we hope that the manifesto will be able to distinguish them from PDP in particular.”

Also, in a chat with New Telegraph, Chief Chekwas Okorie, National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP) said: “APC and PDP are like different sides of the same coin. They are like pot and kettle, none is better than the other. Most of the politicians in APC today had the chance while they were in PDP to better lives of ordinary Nigerians but they didn’t do any. Manifesto or not, these are people who have their eyes on the national treasury. Whether they are APC or PDP does not matter. It is the stock in trade, they like grandstanding and making attacks on the government as if that’s what opposition is only meant for.”

A PDP member in the House of Representatives and leader of the Unity Group, Hon. Bitrus Kaze told New Telegraph that: ‘’The APC document released on Thursday March 6, was a plagiarised photocopy of the PDP manifesto. An honest scrutiny of the document meant to be APC manifesto is not radically different in content and context. The PDP manifesto has simply been reworked by APC.” On APC’s position that PDP has failed, Kaze said: “It amounts to self-contradiction for the APC to say that the PDP has failed while at the same time savouring the conducive democratic atmosphere created by the same PDP-led government. A failed government has no place for freedom of speech for example.”

Some of the party chieftains at the event included Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Senator Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Prince Tony Momoh, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Chief Tom Ilkimi, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Mallam Nasir ElRufai, Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Danjuma Goje, Bayero Nafada, Prof. Pat Utomi, Senator George Akume, Senator Chris Ngige, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Hon. Suleiman Kawu, Hon. Dakuku Peterside and all 16 APC state governors.

No doubt, the roadmap looks good but analysts expressed doubts whether the APC could deliver on such promises. Now that the APC manifesto has berthed, one expects more controversies to trail it in coming days.

18 POLITICS | MONDAY DIALOGUE

‘Why APC govs embrace confab’

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

So, I have forgotten all that.

Since you lost your re-election to the Senate in 2003, you have not been active in politics. Have you abandoned politics?

Well, apart from everyday struggle to make ends meet, I’ve never at any time abandoned politics. Up till about 2011, or thereabout, I was in active politics through Afenifere, and we made attempts to launch new parties that will more or less charge a new direction of politics, with principles and ideologies along the old lines, of our founding fathers; people who practiced politics with principles, honour and integrity, First, we launched the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) for the purpose of 2007 elections. Of course, we did not make much impact with it, because of the prevailing environment of corruption; politics had already been corrupted, and even though we had good programmes, everywhere we went people were asking us to give them money.

And if we didn’t have money to give, they got disillusioned.

Again we made attempt with the Social Democratic Mega Party. So, I’ve always been in politics; I’ve never abandoned politics. But after the 2011 elections, I decided that maybe it was time to become non-partisan. Up till now I don’t belong to any political party, because I think the two major political parties that we have today are two sides of the same coin. They are corrupt, they have no principles.

They are all just after self-enrichment.

Nobody will want Nigeria to break up under his own watch. Naturally any president from any party will give the same no-go area

Are you referring to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

Yes. They are two sides of the same coin. They are all struggling to control the national treasury and enrich themselves. Neither of them can claim to be practising principled politics, because even in the states where they govern now, we see that they’ve departed from the principles of Awoism long ago.

Massive acquisition of wealth is taking place by these governors in all the states they govern. They are not progressives as they claim. Every party will label the other party corrupt. All politicians in all the parties today are corrupt. You will know. It is easy. In fact, they themselves supply the evidence.

Two years ago, when PDP was still intact, they were labelling all the governors in PDP as corrupt. But as soon as some governors decamped from PDP to APC they suddenly become progressives. The mere fact that these governors change camp so easily without any inhibitions shows that the two parties are the same when it comes to corruption.

I just don’t want to mention names. Look at some of our cities, half of the properties are owned by either the governor or the former governor; half of the properties constructed over the last 12 years. If you ask who owns that hotel they’ll tell you it’s a particular person. So, former governors have taken over virtually half of the city, in terms of owning all the properties there. Are those not examples of corruption for people who didn’t have any property before becoming governors.

It just shows that all the parties are corrupt; they’re just trying to deceive the naïve and gullible people to say that one is progressive, and the other is not. Neither of the two parties is progressive.

Afenifere played a crucial role in the transition between 1998 and 1999, and it was so powerful in the South-West. But today, Afenifere has lost its relevance.

Yes, Afenifere is a shadow of its old self, decapitated by these same governors.

After all, in 1999, Afenifere fielded all these governors to power.

Just to give examples, before 1999 Tinubu was abroad. All the people who did the work in Lagos; mobilised the people and start a party that could

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

win were led by Ganiyu Dawodu. But when it came to fielding a gubernatorial candidate, Bola Tinubu came down from overseas.

And because he was allegedly involved in NADECO activities abroad, we considered him as one of us struggling to install democracy. So, we preferred him to Funsho Williams.

The contest was between Tinubu and Williams. Even though we made them to go through primaries, naturally we preferred Tinubu who had been a NADECO activist.

So, we gave him the governorship, the same way we made others governors. But no sooner did they get into power than they had other ideas.

They thought the Afenifere leaders were now old men who should not be listened to; their ideas of discipline and strict moral conduct were considered old fashioned, and they began to do what they liked. They went and installed a party chairman without the knowledge of the Afenifere leadership. In fact, they went into alliance with President Olusegun Obasanjo at that time, bargaining purely on the basis of self-interest, without involving the party leadership. And when I say the party leadership, I mean the Afenifere leadership.

These were some of the initial stages of the rebellion between these governors and the main body of Afenifere.

So are you comfortable with governance and leadership in the South-West today?

I’m not comfortable with the state of leadership in the South-West. In fact, the South-West has never been in disarray as much as it is today. There’s no focused acceptable leadership. We always had an acceptable leader that everyone could say this is the leader of the Yoruba people.

How do you see the fight against corruption in the light of the $20 billion missing oil money?

You see, the problem in Nigeria is that all of us are not serious about fighting corruption. When I say all of us, it’s from the leadership to the smallest person. We pay lip service to fighting corruption, but in all our actions, in everything we do, we make corruption bloom, we support corruption, we encourage corruption.

We always have revelations every time, but after the shock for a few weeks, everybody forgets about them. Look at the issue of petroleum subsidy and how much was stolen. After we demonstrated, nobody is talking about it again.

L o o k at the

Okurounmu

shock about the pension fund scam; pensions of people who have spent their whole lives working that people just stole, up till today I don’t think that anyone has been jailed for it. It shocked us for a while, but now nobody is talking.

So, corruption has been a continuous thing, but they are just politicizing it now for election purposes. Every Nigerian in a position to be corrupt, practices corruption. We have to find ways of stopping corruption, but we have not even started fighting it.

Even with the anti-corruption agencies; the EFCC and ICPC? How many former governors have been jailed since the formation of the EFCC in 2004? They talk about all the people they have jailed but they are all petty thieves.

Former governors, who have stolen billions, how many are serving jail terms today? Many of them have their cases permanently in courts but not to be concluded. And the judiciary colludes to encourage corruption because when you steal money, you can give some of it to a judge and your case will go on for the next 20 to 30 years. Your case will never be concluded; the judge will be feeding fat on part of the money that you have stolen and you will be walking free. That is what our society has become. People sell justice everyday.

How do you see the battle for the soul of the South-West between the APC and PDP in 2015?

The battle for the South-West is that for self-gratification by both parties. We want a political party that really has the people in mind; that wants to solve the problems of the people like Awolowo did. If there is party today that wants to promote the welfare of the people, no amount of opposition can remove it from power. If the APC governs in a progressive manner like Awolowo did; the PDP, if 10 times stronger the way it is today, it will not succeed in winning elections in the South-West. But unfortunately, a lot of people in the South-West are getting disillusioned with the APC government.

With the reality on ground, do you see the PDP taking over South-West in 2015?

Right now, the South-West is anybody’s grab because both parties are not good and the elections in Ekiti and Osun states will point the way to what is going to happen in the zone in 2015.

Do you nurse any fear about the 2015 elections?

The only fear that I nurse is that I hope there won’t be violence. I hope that we shall be allowed to vote for the candidates of our choice. I hope that INEC will be fair. Once there is free and fair elections and there is no violence, I have no fear, either party can win.

Was the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by the President in order?

To be frank with you, the president is in order. We must be very reasonable. If Sanusi had acted the way he did under Obasanjo’s government, he would not have lasted more than one year in office. A CBN governor that was almost a law to his himself; trying to be a parallel president; dispensing government’s fund the way he liked; gratifying people with billions of naira. He was behaving like a sitting president. On all these, he should have been removed.

A CBN governor is supposed to concern himself with monetary and fiscal policies, he should rarely comment on political issues. Central Bank governors all over the world don’t talk politics; they concentrate on the economy and that is why people respect them. And when you disagree with a government that you are serving in, you should resign.

It is after resignation that you can start to criticise it.

You cannot sit in a government and continue to criticise it; it is immoral.

EDITORIAL

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Monday, March 10, 2014

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MoNday, MARCH 10, 2014

Making made-in-Nigeria vehicles a reality

t feels good witnessing the fresh wave of interest now being shown by investors and makers of various automotive brands in realising the dream of making vehicles in Nigeria. This upsurge in interests is apparently positioning the investors to take the first-mover advantage and latch on to the new policy initiative code-named Nigeria Automotive Industry Development Plan through which Government seeks to resuscitate its long abandoned dream of flaunting locally made vehicles. The plan to commence the manufacturing of the vehicles was disclosed by the representatives of some of the automotive manufacturers to the Nigerian Government officials and indeed, the global market, at the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Anchored on the new initiative, one of Japan’s foremost automotive manufacturing companies, Nissan Motors, now plans to roll out the first batch of its Patrol range of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in Nigeria in April this year. Hyundai Motor manufacturing company of South Korea is also partnering the Stallion Group to manufacture the Hyundai brand of passenger and commercial vehicles in Nigeria.

Incidentally, the scheduled roll-out time for this is also April. Asides Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria

(PAN) that has been assembling cars in the country since the early 70s that also plans to fully restart operations in June, Kia Motors of South Korea and Tata of India are showing deep-seated interest.

The cheery news is unfolding after car assembly plants such as Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON) and Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) and heavy duty vehicle assembly plants as Steyr Motors, Leyland, Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO) and others earlier established on the strength of then popular economic policy strategy of import substitution failed woefully to achieve the overarching objective of setting them up.

Yet in sharp contrast the outcome of policy in Brazil’s auto assembly plants and models established with the same economic rationalisation has propelled the South American giant to make beautifully finished Marcopollo luxury buses and haulage trucks that our commercial transporters and logistics companies heavily patronise.

To further build momentum and demonstrate its commitment to the success of the plan, government, with the Minister of Trade and Investment as arrow-head, has already embarked on visiting and inspecting the various auto assembly plants in the country. This step, we believe, will reassure all stakeholders and spur greater interest in

the scheme. Members of the visiting and inspecting team need to ensure that the right designs, technologies, manpower, funding, infrastructure, operating environment, concessions and indeed, staying power are in place to drive the entire scheme and etch the country on the global auto makers’ map. In addition, the global best practices, forms and standards are strictly observed at all times in the whole effort to deliver truly made in Nigeria vehicles.

Although the latest initiative by government to advance the country’s automotive industry seems belated, we commend the renewed effort, even if what is achieved at the end of the day is to save the country the more than N1 trillion ($6.5 billion) spent on importation of vehicles, spare parts and tyres by the three tiers of government, private corporate organisations as well as individuals in 2012 alone. Odious situations where the huge resources deployed to build and ideally make the VON plant a national monument were so misapplied, that it became a handy venue for pure water and wedding reception businesses before being privatised must not be allowed again for whatever reason.

We also believe that Government needs to make a clear distinction between vehicle manufacturing which involves greater integration of resources and more inclusive local content development, and as-

sembling completely knocked down (CKD) or semi-knocked down (SKD) parts that must be imported. The need for this definition is germane since the integrated steel plants in Ajaokuta and Ovwian-Aladja as well as the rolling mills in Katsina, Jos and Oshogbo are not involved in flat steel production even if they start working now.

We agree with the National Automotive Council of Nigeria that the continued wholesale importation of vehicles is not good for the country and that the new policy should support our car plants to produce very standard cars at globally competitive prices and greatly add to our local content given that at least 2,500 parts are required to assemble a car. However, we also demand that appropriate measures are taken to ensure that players in the domestic economy find space in the alternate economy and new skills that the new automotive development plan should create whether in the upstream, downstream or ancillary segments of the scheme. That we have all brands of vehicles on Nigerian roads and garages but none is made in the country that is already celebrating its centenary is not acceptable. It is not enough to slam hefty tariffs on imported used vehicles, but we advocate that the expected vehicles from the now ballooning interests should be delivered at affordable and globally competitive prices.

BOLAJI TUNJI Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief IKE ABONYI Deputy Managing Director FELIX ABUGU Managing Editor, South SULEIMAN BISALA Managing Editor, North GABRIEL AKINADEWO Editor, Daily LAURENCE ANI Editor, Saturday EMEKA MADUNAGU Editor, Sunday LEO CENDROWICZ Bureau Chief, Brussels MARSHALL COMINS Bureau Chief, Washington DC SAM AMSTERDAM Editorial Coordinator, Europe EMMAN SHEHU (PhD) Chairman, Editorial Board BIODUN DUROJAIYE News Editor PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

20

Monday, March 10, 2014

OPINION

Concrete issues at the national conference (3) Felix Oragwu

O

ut of the contributions by the federating units or regions to the national financial pool, the budget requirement for running the central government should be passed on to the federal government while the balance of the contributions should be shared in proportion to the contribution of each federating unit or region to the National Revenue Pool among the federating units or regions.

This financing system assures diligent and honest hard work, healthy competition and innovation in economic and industrial production activities and accountability of the governments of the federating units or regions. In particular, it makes each federating unit or region realize and appreciate that no federating unit or region owes her a living. (i) For avoidance of doubt, the Common Services agreed for the Federal Government as detailed in the 1952-1960 and 1960-1965 Constitutions consist of

Military, National Police, Immigration, Customs, Central Bank and National Currency, Foreign Affairs including Foreign Trade, Railways, Telecommunications, National Agricultural Scientific Research Services, National Scientific Research and Technological Services, and National Industrial Standards Control Services. Every other responsibility not mentioned or mutually agreed at the conference should be the responsibility of the federating units or regions.

7: Materials which were studied and reflected upon before reaching the above positions, and which the delegates may wish to consult from time to time during the Conference include the following: (a) The comprehensive position of the Igbo reached by a select group of Ndigbo leaders of thought led by the eminent and distinguished Nigerian Constitutional Lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN). (b) The excellent guidelines and papers on sustainable Nigerian constitution made public by the “Patriots” led by Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN)

(c) The paper by Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, dealing with discrimination case on behalf of the South East states, and (d) The following articles and books by my humble self, namely: (i): My articles in The Guardian under the following headlines: (a) Nigeria without a national dialogue---October 6, 2013, and (b) History a cue to national dialogue--July10-12, 2013. (ii): Relevant portions of my book titled: Scientific and Technological Innovations in Biafra: The Ogbunigwe Fame, 1967-1970, such as Chapter II, page 20, Causes of instability in Nigeria’s Polity, pages 32-35, and Chapter III, pages 40-41, dealing with reasons given for the revenge counter coup de-tat of July 29, 1966, and pages 43-44 giving details of ABURI Accord in Ghana, January 4-8, 1967 and Chapter VIII: Dealing with the Collapse of Biafra, The Lessons, pages 112-113, and the main issues in a “True” Federalism, pages 120-126, and the structure and ex-

perience of some mature federations with multi-ethnic nationalities (USA, UK and Canada), and (iii): Relevant portions of my recent book, titled, Nigeria’s Existential and Technological Development Nightmare such as the Introductory Chapter, pages vi-ix, Chapter I, pages 22-30, Chapter II, on suggested structure for “true” Nigerian Federation, pages 34-36, and Chapter III, pages 21-31 dealing with how to conduct a National Dialogue or Sovereign National Conference (SNC) .

It is hoped that the above suggestions and supporting documents should be of help and will guide the delegates (nominated, appointed, selected and otherwise) from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria for the proposed National Conference or National Dialogue so that the outcome of the conference will be of immense benefits to all the peoples of Nigeria and for the good of the country.

Concluded.

Dr. Oragwu, a nuclear phycisist and technological development consultant wrote in from Lagos. He can be reached via fncoragwu@yahoo.com

Sanusi shouldn’t have headed CBN Ofole Okafor

T

he matter of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi comes down to me as a straightforward proposition: the right comportment or the abject lack of it. After all, it is natural in every human society for there to be rules and regulations, whether written down in black and white, or observed as norm. Acceptable behaviour applies to, or should apply to, those at the top and those at the bottom whom the top-enders are trampling underfoot.

In societies adept at observing the strict codes of proper behavior, both the affairs of state, and the ones relating to human beings move unobtrusively. In such societies, the heavens don’t fall because a man or woman is leaving an office. A good example is Italy where, hardly a national government has lasted up to three years since World War ll.

Yet, the affairs of that country continue to move, a case of seamless transition.

What this means is that the country is more important than any individual; a man’s job or duty comes first before tribal, ethnic or religious considerations.

Excellence and meritocracy are

the norm; aberrant behaviour is censured.

In Nigeria, however, the reverse appears to be the case. Here mediocrity and underachievement are celebrated, impunity is elevated to a god and worshipped.

Every action taken by authority is given a political interpretation and any deserved punishment as tribal or ethnic victimization.

Invariably, our concern is hardly about how any development affects the country, but how it benefits my little circle or disadvantages it.

One needs to bear these things in mind in order to properly situate the brouhaha that has attended the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from the governorship of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

As things stand today, there seems to be no middle ground as a two-sided din has swallowed alternative opinion. All supporters of the All Peoples Congress (APC) believe that Sanusi has been done a bad card, while everyone in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are of the opinion that Sanusi should have been separated from the CBN job long before now.

What about those of us who are strictly non-partisan?

My people say that he who

Sanusi stormed the national banking arena like a raging bull, sparing nothing on his way must unearth a murderer should, first of all, locate his weapon. Going back to the very beginnings, it is poignant to note that there was something fundamentally wrong with the way and manner Sanusi landed the CBN job. The man has two first degrees – one in Economics and the other in Islamic Studies! He was recommended for the job by someone who, in a country where the norms and letters of rules and regulations are enforced, should be in a slammer for bank-wrecking. Former President Yar’Adua, bowing to political pressure and blackmail, possibly, recommended Sanusi for the top, banking job. The Senate, without finding any spellbinding attributes in Sanusi and without paying any attention to his credentials and exposure, confirmed his appointment as the boss of the country’s most coveted financial institution. The selection process to such a sensitive and critical position was deeply flawed and

a serious indictment on the part of our federal government. Why should the position of the governorship of the Central Bank of Nigeria be the subject of political patronage? Why should merit be absent in the mentality of our lawmakers? Why should a meddling banker take precedence over seasoned, reputable and tested banking experts?

Little wonder Sanusi stormed the national banking arena like a raging bull, sparing nothing on his way to appropriating from the national media the undeserved accolades of a banking reformer and sanitizer of our banks and other financial institutions.

Something played to his advantage, of course. He knew of the provision for Senate approval before he could be removed. He took that to mean invincibility, forgetting that it would have been wise of him to read some other little prints on his tenure.

He displayed extreme arrogance and a garrulity that bespeaks recklessness. He forgot that President Obasanjo fired and retired Mr. Vincent Azie, the acting Auditor-General of the Federation for doing his job, making no public statements but pointing out deficiencies in the government’s handling of its fi-

nances. As Sanusi acted the way he pleased, donating CBN’s billions to all sorts of causes, as if the money belonged to his family it didn’t take very long for the result to become public knowledge.

In 63 interventions, Sanusi gave away a staggering N163 billion of our collective patrimony to those that caught his fancy, some of them outside the shores of Nigeria! He even used N743million of our resources to acquire 7 percent shares of the International Islamic Management Corporation of Malaysia, an investment guaranteed to return absolutely nothing to Nigeria.

The suspension, sack or dismissal of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was long overdue, in my considered opinion. To be sure, the action of Mr. President was too late in coming. But better late than never, is what people saved from oppression everywhere declare in extreme joy. I strongly advocate that the federal government should probe Sanusi’s entire tenure at the CBN with a fine toothcomb, to determine to what extent he conformed with the instruments that delineated the running of his office. . Mr. Okafor, a TV producer, wrote from Awka, Anambra State.

INVESTIGATION

21 NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/investigation

GEOFFREY EKENNA Editor, INVESTIGATION

geoffrey.ekenna@newtelegraphonline.com

Monday, MARCH 10, 2014

Olusosun dumpsite

Olusosun dumpsite: From waste to wealth To a typical Lagos resident, generation of domestic waste is as easy as the simplest task. For the Lagos State Government, it a serious business managing the waste. But for some other categories of Lagosians, the Olusosun dumpsite, near Ojota, is a source of livelihood, OLUWATOSIN OMONIYI reports

M

r. Isaac Essilfile, a Ghananian and Head Teacher of Elizabeth Memorial Primary School, Olusosun, Ojota, Lagos, is indeed a sad man. He is even frustrated. An experienced school administrator, who has spent over 30 years in the Nigerian education sector, Essilfile had good reasons to be happy when he was invited to set up the Elizabeth schools in Ojota in the 1990s. After all, he hadß set up about four others in various parts of Lagos for different proprietors. He set up the school and even bought another portion of land for a secondary school. But today, that decision is a source of frustration for the 60 something year old. From nearly 200 pupils he started with then, he is now struggling to keep only about 110 students. That is courtesy of the Olusosun

dumpsite directly behind the school. Parents have withdrawn their wards from the school, owing to the stench that oozes out of the dumpsite. Although by what appears to be a miracle for the school, the odour from the dumpsite is carried in a different direction, parents are worried about the health concerns of their children in the environment. But officials of the Lagos State government, owners of the dumpsite continue to deodorize the site constantly, even as they hold that Essilfile and his school encroached on the land for the dumpsite. When New Telegraph visited the dumpsite and the school recently, Essilfile was gnashing his teeth in regret. He is very bitter about his environment which had caused him serious financial loss. By his accounts,

the school had to sell the land it acquired for a secondary school within the premises to a church, Laughter Foundation, owned by Pastor Gbenga Oso. Essilfile said parents complained about the odour that emanates from the dumpsite and the noise and nuisance that come from the heavy trucks that come to site to dislodge their contents.

For the school, it is now a struggle. The parents also always had to struggle for access way with the truck drivers before dropping and picking their children at the gate of the school. That, though, has been arrested by the state government, who have stopped trucks from using that entrance.

Parents have withdrawn their wards from the school, owing to the stench that oozes out of the dumpsite

For him, the odour is not the only problem; but the constant fights that break out among the drivers, scavengers and various other women who depend on the dumpsite for their living. It is embarrassing to him, because his pupils are at times exposed to the regular show of shame. But he has not been totally unlucky though. LAWMA officials have constantly sprayed insecticides and deodorants on the site.

Essifilie is not alone in his grief. Iyabo Aina, a custom retiree, living in an estate close to the site said, “It’s awful and an eyesore. We can’t get fresh air around here. In fact, there’s a particular odour attached to this vicinity that is apparently not a fresh air.”

She added that it is worse during the rainy season, as the whole environment becomes messier with dirt littering all over the place; the air at that time becomes dangerous to breathe.

The situation is same with Bunmi Popoola, a hairdresser opposite the entrance of the C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 2

22

INVESTIGATION

Sanctity of Truth

Scavengers reaping from waste

Scavengers at work at the dumpsite C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 1

site. “This place shouldn’t be in a residential area. I suggest LAWMA takes the site to the outskirts of Lagos and not within.”

Kehinde Omoolope, a bus driver at the Ojota motor park, directly behind the dumpsite, described the environment as a wicked situation he has come to terms with. He can’t even differentiate between fresh and polluted air as he has become accustomed to the foul air around him. According to him, passengers have a slogan for the place as they approach Lagos from the Ojota point of entrance, “Eko nru” meaning, “Lagos smells.”

Ihejirikra Isaac, a business man and a regular passenger at the park, told New Telegraph that his greatest surprise would be for him to come into Lagos someday and breathe in fresh healthy air and not behold the site of the huge refuse behind the motor park again. He said it appeared Lagos State government was less sensitive to the plight of the residents and other commercial activities going on there.

While the Olusosun dumpsite is a source of concern to some people, it is a main source of livelihood to others. The scavengers for instance, who formed the informal sector of the site, earn their pay on daily basis from the sorting of waste materials for companies and individuals in need of them.

Rabiu Ibrahim, one of the scavengers, has been at the site for about five years now.

His only job is scavenging for waste products- plastics, nylon and whatever he gets.

He makes at least N50,000 monthly from the supply and delivery of waste materials to interested companies and individuals. Ibrahim explained that if he sorts out the required products directly atop the refuse heap, he charges a flat rate of N25,000 per month.

And if he has to deliver via his cart to the company or individual, he will charge differently for transportation depending on the distance or the destination. On a lucky day, he could get up to five demands, meaning a large sum of money in his pocket. According to him, they pay the chairman of Scavengers

Monday, March 10, 2014

Essilfile

a sum of N100 daily or N500 weekly for gate fee and operational permit at the site. It‘s the same story for Okechukwu Godswill, whose specialization is scrap for mechanics and individuals. He said his customers are mainly from the east, who would have booked two weeks ahead. For him, his profit depends on demand and supply, “but on the average, I make at least, N120,000 monthly.”

There are other petty scavengers who do it to earn transportation money. Kadijat Salisu, a 58 year old grandmother works for LAWMA at the site, eight hours daily as a sweeper precisely. After her official work for the day, she goes round to pick plastic bottles and sell to LAWMA, who buys per ton from her. If she is lucky, she could get up to 50 tons of plastic and sell at the rate of N30 per ton. Simisola Okerinja, another sweeper says she just picks a few tons of plastics to enable her get transport fare home on a day she is not lucky to catch up with the BRT buses which are free for LAWMA staff. She said if she sells about five tons of plastic or pure water sachet in a day, she gets N1,500, which is aside her salary.

Obviously, anybody that goes to the dumpsite at Olusosun with business intention does not go home empty handed.

The Olusosun dumpsite is not just home to hundreds of scavengers, but also a business address for thousands of others that range from food vendors, truck operators, motor boys, cart and wheelbarrow pushers, among other legion of busy artisans. Yet, the site remains a source of discomfort to many, who are affected by the stench that oozes out from it.

At the site, it is a beehive of activities.

Tractors and excavators were busy; scavengers are busy scavenging for reusable

Anybody that goes to the dumpsite at Olusosun with business intention does not go home empty handed

waste on one side, while food hawkers are roaming the site and those roasting plantain and yam are also busy on another side. Association members of different categories of scavengers are holding meetings; some are taking their bath in the open, and some are busy defecating in the open. It is in fact different tales for different folks. The lotto stands commonly known as “baba Ijebu” is also a feature of the Olusosun dumpsite.

Within the site are a few small restaurants, otherwise called bukateria, barber’s shop, even manicure and pedicure spaces. Wheelbarrow boys were trooping in and out of the place with heaps of sorted out wastes, ranging from plastics to nylon, clothes, scraps, paper and anything that holds commercial value to them. From as far as the popular Seven-Up Company on the outskirts of the city, the fleets of PSP and LAWMA trucks laden with wastes are lined up, taking turns to discharge their cargo. These trucks, while waiting, not only ooze out the stench from the contents of their bellies, they litter the place with dirt, and also cause traffic congestion around Oregun and Ojota roads. Indeed, the business of refuse disposal in Lagos State is wider than the uninitiated would see.

Hauwa Momoh, a geologist of the state government at the site, said the odour is not as horrible as it was before because LAWMA has been tackling that area. She explained to New Telegraph that LAWMA gets about 2,650 tonnage of waste on daily basis.

The wastes are generated from three platforms at the site, namely the municipal, commercial and marine wastes before sorting.

She added that to take care of the huge waste, LAWMA makes use of eight bulldozers per day to pave way and push the waste into the gully. That, on the average, costs N120,000 per bulldozer.

Momoh said that the wastes are either sold to companies, or recycled at their own plant.

She explained the recycling process to include washing of the nylons, mostly pure water sachet, inside a machine and crush them into pellets. From there, the materials goes into the extruder machine

where another black colour called black master bash is added. Afterwards, it produces the black LAWMA bags. She added that, aside sanitizing the air, LAWMA also covers the whole site with laterite which is dug from the site to prevent the trucks from skidding on the slippery surfaces especially during rainy season. The site gets an average of 300 trips daily from the trucks.

However, relief seems to be on the way for those within the environment. LAWMA officials explained that the agency has an intention to turn the dumpsite to a golf course and also to generate electricity for the Ojota environment just like that of Ikosi Ketu fruit market.

Oladimeji Oresanya, LAWMA’s Managing Director, stated that the agency will soon relocate the site away from Ojota to Epe, where it has acquired 80 hectares of land for a proper landfill site. Already, capping(greening) has started at the Ojota site . Capping, according to Oresanya, is a scientific term for reducing the foul odour at the site by planting a Greenfield on areas considered dead cells. He explained that his agency understands the plight of the people more than they could imagine. This is the very reason the agency avoids burning the refuse because the air pollution would have a dangerous effect on the entire environment, according to him. The smoke, he said, could produce carcinogenic gases, which could cause lung infection for children and other airborne diseases. He said his agency has laid out the pipeline to capture gases from the refuse waste. That is because, if left uncaptured, the gases are self combustible and could cause fire at the site. The gases, he explained, would later be used to generate electricity for the whole Ojota environment as compensation to the people. He added that his agency succeeded in getting the dumpsite as the largest in Africa, and registered as the first from the continent on the profile of the United Nations Carbon Credit Project.

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Death in SARS cells (3) Human Rights groups, Police and Police Service Commission, lawyers, tell their stories in this concluding part of the story by JULIANA FRANCIS Human right groups

M

r. Justine Ijeomah is the Executive Director of Human Rights, Social Development and Environmental Foundation (HURSDEF) based in Port Harcourt.

His organization has been fighting extra judicially killings in Port Harcourt for years now. He has been arrested 24 times and received a deluge of threatening text messages from unknown persons.

We met at the organisation’s office, located at 62, Ikwere Street, Mile 1, Diobu.

Ijeomah spoke against extra-judicial killings with passion. He wished he had the power to curtail the killings, if not out rightly stop it.

Visibly vexed, he said: “The police will confiscate victim’s property and share the property among themselves. I’ve been arrested several times and I have received threatening messages, but whom do I run to for safety? The job even becomes dangerous for me and my family members. We discovered that police frame victims for armed robbery because they want to cover up.

“Our government is not checking the excesses of the police. Nobody challenges police’s impunity. There are many cases, yet nothing is being done to the police, especially because of influences of powersthat-be. Many judges handling these sorts of cases have been mysteriously transferred.

Our interest in this fight is justice. Until we get justice, we’ll continue in the fight. We’re not even talking about innocent children, who had been killed in the streets.

He recalled that on July, 4, 2008, policemen embarked on a series of arrest in Abonnema Wharf Waterfront in Port Harcourt. Among those raided and taken to Mile One Police Station, was Godgift Ferguson Ekerete, 24.

Godgift and three young men were arrested in the raid. They were later shot and killed in the police station that same day.

By the time Godgift’s parents got to the station, they learnt their son had been killed, but his corpse could not be located. They embarked on a search, until they reached the mortuary of Braithwaite Memorial Special Hospital. There, they saw and identified the corpse of their son.

It was heartbreaking moment for them. It was also gathered that most victims killed by policemen in Port Harcourt, used to be taken and abandoned at the mortuary. The mortuary had however been renovated.

Mr. Olatunde Oladipo Vincent is a human rights activist. He said that he had been detained in SARS, Ikeja, twice. He insisted that the place is not fit for a human being, no matter the offence the person had committed.

According to him, everyone, including suspected criminals have fundamental human rights.

Recalling how he was detained in SARS cell, Vincent said: “I had a problem with

Mba

the police and they arrested me. After my arrest, they brought charms, guns, and cutlass and placed in front of me and took my picture. They tagged me an armed robber, who had been terrorizing the community. They went to my house and parked everything just as they do to armed robbers. They later took me in their vehicle, with one innocent boy, Edward, who was arrested as he was standing in front of his parents’ house. They took us to SARS. Some policemen, who knew me, said it was impossible; that I was not a robber.

They said I was a human rights activist. They took me to the cell. One thing I quickly noticed in the cell, was that it symbolises man’s inhumanity to man.

“The head or marshal of the cell beat up people for no just cause. When I was in the cell, there was a boy they brought in.

They said he had a problem with a man in Zenith bank. Right there and then, police labelled him an armed robber!

“The boy was tortured there in my presence. He eventually gave up the ghost.

You see so many people with deep wounds

Policemen manhandling a suspect

Okiro

Our government is not checking the excesses of the police. Nobody challenges police’s impunity and stinking. There was never a time we were less than 80 in a cell. We slept on bare floor. It was a terrible situation. They have a toilet which the 80 of us used. And you cannot take your bath except the marshal tells you to take your bath. It’s not every day you take your bath, except you pay the marshal.

“They pick people randomly and kill them. If a particular suspect is a confirmed armed robber and he is being treated in such an inhuman manner, people might not complain too much, but innocent people are being arrested and treated horribly too. They parked

INVESTIGATION 23

everybody, both civil and criminal cases together in a single cell.

“Most people wouldn’t be able to tell you what they saw. Even if it’s raining, the place is hot like an oven. The place is another world entirely. You don’t know whether it’s morning, noon or night. All what the suspect knows is that it is time for prayers and he’ll go for prayers.”

An Amnesty International’s news letter, ‘Nigeria No Justice for the Dead’ dated February 2013, states: “In 2009, Amnesty International published a report, documenting extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings by police in Nigeria. That report revealed a pattern of police killing of 100 of people every year. It found that many victims were unlawfully killed before or during arrest, while others were tortured to death in police detention. A large proportion of unlawful killings may have constituted extra judicial executions. In some cases, people disappeared after being taken into police custody. Amnesty International found that the police acted with almost total impunity; killings by police and deaths in police custody were not investigated and there was almost no action to hold police officers to account.”

The Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a nongovernmental organization, which acts as a watchdog over the affairs of police, has a lot to say about the issue in question.

NOPRIN spokesman’s, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, is like a man stung by a scorpion. He fumes: “One of NOPRIN’s recommendations after a public tribunal on police abuses in Nigeria held in 2010 in Owerri, Imo State is that the IGP should as a matter of urgency reorganize SARS and the entire anti-robbery operations of the Nigeria police force, so as to insulate them from abuse of office. The police in SARS, Enugu and many other places in the south east are being used by politicians and other influential persons to victimize their opponents or to settle dispute that are purely civil or communal. Therefore, a Human Rights Desk, as a matter of urgency, should be established in all the police stations in Nigeria, manned by a senior police officer. Rule of law must prevail in Nigeria and so the Nigeria Police Force must obey court orders and allow court processes to be served on it without hindrance. SARS has gained embarrassing notoriety, tainting the image of the Nigerian Police locally and internationally, and should either be scrapped or comprehensively reformed to conform to modern standards of policing or human rights- compliant policing.”

Statistics from the National Human Rights Commission is equally startling.

The response from the agency said, Statistics might be different from actual situation on ground because not all cases are reported by those affected.

The data proves that although there is preponderance of extra-judicial killings by the police, especially those in SARS, the victims of such abuses have not embraced C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 4

24

INVESTIGATION

Sanctity of Truth

Death in SARS cells

Monday, March 10, 2014

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 3

or realised that they can seek redress. Or maybe they do know, but fear that it’s an exercise in futility.

Ex-policemen differ on killings Dr. Tsav Abubakar, a former Commissioner of Police, has severally condemned the killing of suspects by police, describing it as a ‘new trend’ in the Nigerian Police Force. Apparently disgusted at the level of the killings of suspects he witnessed in Gboko, Benue State, Abubakar wrote a petition to the National Human Rights Commission.

He said; “Before you arrest an armed suspect and charged the person to court.

Now, what some policemen do is to arrest and shoot and kill suspects under their custody. This is too bad. This is a new trend in the Nigeria Police Force.”

Abubakar said that when he was a Commissioner of Police, there were no such killings.

He added: “What government can do, to stop such killings of suspects by the police is to make sure that any policeman who kills a suspect, is charged to court and prosecuted. But most times, you find some senior officers, shielding such policemen.”

A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Mr. Azubuko Udah, who was instrumental in coming up with the blueprint that led to amnesty being offered to the Niger Delta militants, leading to ceasefire and peace in the region, said people alleging such outright killings of suspects in police custody, ‘should be careful in making wild allegations.’

According to him, “There maybe one or two isolated cases, but to say SARS is killing suspects in custody is unfair and not true.

Nobody should generalize such allegations.

What’s the person proof? People need to be careful in making wild allegations. Officers have been sentenced for such crimes.

Nobody has a license to kill. It can happen once in a while, but to generalize is bad. We have 13 zones, which SARS is the person or people talking about? If there is any such incident, the case should be investigated and if the policeman is found wanting, should be dealt with according to the law.”

A veteran crime reporter, Mr. Atta Folorusho, who had been covering the beat since 1989, said such killings were higher in 1989 and early 90s. He said that back then, such killings used to take place because most of the policemen were illiterates.

Force Headquarters reacts Mr. Frank Mba is the spokesman for the Nigerian Police Force. When asked if there was anywhere in the Nigerian Police Act, where extra judicial killings of people in SARS cell/detention was permitted.

Mba said he was genuinely shocked to hear such allegations. According to him, he was not aware that such killings or torture happen in any police command or stations in Nigeria.

He added: “I have never heard that and I’m not aware of such things happenings.

Policemen on patrol

Tsav

No. of missing suspects 1997

6

2006

7

1998

6

2007

7

1999

8

2008

22

2000

17

2009

9

2001

20

2010

20

2002

11

2011

6

2003

6

2012

27

2004

5

2013(Jan –June)

21

2005

13

Total

211

We, as members of the Nigeria Police Force are due process compliant. The Nigeria Police Force is a legitimate law abiding force. Even during operation, we don’t set out to kill robbers. We set out to arrest them, but during shoot out, they get injured and might die from the wound.

You can’t say we kill them. We also suffer casualties. The way robbers operate is outright murder. When they see policemen, they attack and kill policemen out rightly.

We arrest them in the interest of the public. And when they suffer injury, we take them to hospital and give them the best of medical care. This sort of operation happens everywhere in the world, we’re not an exception.”

It’s illegal to kill suspects- PSC A call was put to the Assistant Director, Information Officer of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Ferdinand Uche Akpe, to know if the commission had received complaints about SARS killing suspects in detention.

Akpe had promised to get me the statistics by the next day. The following day however, he said he was in a meeting. After some days, I called him again; he said he had discussed the issue with the chairman of the Commission, a retired IGP, Sir Mike Okiro, who promised to speak with me after the Sallah break.

Some days after the Sallah break, I got in touch with Akpe again, he said Okiro was not in town, but would alert me once Okiro was in town. According to him, Okiro had not yet addressed the press since he assumed office as Chairman of PSC and as such was going to address press, with extra judicial killings by police as one of the sub-

ject matters in his address..

On November, 28, 2013, Okiro came down to Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos State to attend a function organised by the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN).

When asked about what the PSC was doing about suspect disappearing from police cells, he replied: “If suspect disappears, maybe run away, then the policeman on duty must account for such a suspect.”

But when told that Policemen kill some suspects, he said, “I don’t think any policeman would kill a suspect.

In any case, we have human rights; we have a way of handling any policeman who does extra-judicial killing. Killing of suspects is against the law; I don’t think any policeman could do that. And if any policeman is found to do that, he would be dealt with, according to the law.”

Killing of suspects in police detention is believed to have been going on for ages, no thanks to lack of forensic/scientific method of carrying out investigations, greed and covetousness. Torture continues to be employed and deployed by detectives in anti-robbery department to get a confession from suspects. Torture had made so many innocent people to confess to crimes they did not commit or even know anything about. And many more had been tortured to death for a crime they also did not commit. Also, as long as the judiciary and Nigerians Prisons Services are not playing their roles, these killings may very well not stop!

Lawyers react Femi Damilola, a lawyer, described the act as barbaric, adding that it was however an allegation which could not be substantiated. “It’s however against the constitution of the country. Nobody has the right to terminate the life of any person except through the process of the courts.

“Claiming that the judiciary is corrupt and that suspects charged to court are seen on the streets and often come after them is a lame excuse to cover their barbaric practices. When they say the judiciary is corrupt, are they saying the judiciary is collecting money from these suspects? The fact remains that there are laws and both

judges and lawyers must act according to those laws.”

According to Damilola, there are conditions for bail. If the suspect meets those conditions, there was nothing the lawyers or judges could do after that.

“That’s not the fault of the judiciary.

That does not mean the judiciary is corrupt. We have the criminal laws already, but we’re not making use of those laws.

There are laws against such killings.”

He explained that if any victim’s family could substantiate the allegation and drag the policeman involved, to court, the likely sentence would be death or life imprisonment for the cop. “If the police kill somebody and the person’s relation takes up the matter, that policeman must be killed also. The fact remains that we’re sitting on our rights.

“There’s also problem of money.

Even if you know your rights and there’s no money to pursue and prosecute the policeman, then that one reason is why the police will continue to do this and get away with it. Some of the policemen will claim that they caught the suspect with guns and the rest. Those are the lame excuses they use to give to continue this barbaric act. But those suspects who give them money would not be killed. They allow those suspects who can give them money to go. They’re talking of corruption in the judiciary, whereas corruption is in their blood!”

Another lawyer, Henry.O. Egorp, in a similar vein said that the police don’t follow due process of the law. He explained that once a suspect was arrested, after 24 hours, the law provides that such a suspect should be arraigned in court, so that he could take his plea.

“The police have no right whatsoever under the law to extra-judicially execute any suspect, whether he was alleged to have committed armed robbery or whatever.

“That the judiciary is corrupt according to them, does not give them the right to kill anyone. I don’t concede that the judiciary is corrupt anyway. The position of the law is that the suspect must be arraigned in the court of law.”

BUSINESS Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday, March 10, 2014

What's news Nigeria imports 130 tons of sugar in two months

Despite government’s policy to end sugar importation by 2018, three merchant vessels, Desert Melody, Universal Baltimore and Rachel, have berthed with 130,100 metric tons of the commodity at Lagos Port

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Ecobank crisis: A test case for SEC, others Pan-African financial institution, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), which has been in the news of late due to a boardroom dispute over corporate governance, will hold its board meeting tomorrow in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde.

}p-30

Market nose-dives as profit taking persists The Nigerian stock market lowered its momentum from the previous week. After recording a significant rise of 3.30 per cent growth, the market tempo retreated last week, dropping by 0.16 per cent.

}p-33

‘Govt owes construction firms N200bn’ Construction firms under the aegis of the Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI), are owed over N200 billion by all the tiers of the government, its President, Mr. Solomon Ogunbusola, has said.

}p-35

BUSINESS CREW AYODELE AMINU, Deputy Editor (Business) Simeon Ogoegbulem, Dep. Business Editor BAYO AKOMOLAFE, Asst. Editor (Maritime) SUNDAY OJEME, Asst. Editor (Insurance) SIAKA MOMOH, Asst. Editor (Industry) JONAH IBOMA, ICT Editor DAYO ADEYEMI, Property Editor ADEOLA YUSUF, Energy Editor

Chuks Onuanyin, Energy Nnamdi Amadi, Reporter

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

}p-28-29

ayodele aminu, Deputy Editor, business

ayodele.aminu@newtelegraphonline.com ayodeleaminu@yahoo.com

FACE OFF A battle line in drawn between the three erring telecoms operator and NCC Jonah Iboma

T

hree of the telecommunication operators (Airtel, Globacom and MTN Nigeria) recently fined by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over poor service quality have declined payment of the fines.

As at the close of business last Friday when the deadline set by the industry regulator expired, none of the trio had paid the regulator.

NCC had imposed a fine of N647.5 million on Airtel, Globacom and MTN Nigeria, the three major GSM service providers, for failing to meet the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Quality of Service (QoS) in the month of January 2014.

But barely four days to the deadline for payment of the fines imposed by NCC on the operators, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers filed a motion at the High Court of Lagos against the NCC and mobile network operators, restraining operators from paying the fines and preventing NCC from collecting same until a suit earlier filed seek compensation of subscribers rather than t New Telegraph gathered that the concerned operators decided against payment of the fines on the premise that doing so may be in breach of the law since there was already a motion of the case instituted

L-R: Chioma Nwabuoku, Divisional Head, Corporate Resources, Enterprise Bank Limited; Mallam Ahmed Kuru, the bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Uju Ogubunka, Registrar, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, an Executive Director of the bank when the CIBN Registrar paid a courtesy visit to the management of Enterprise Bank in Lagos…weekend

by the subscriber body.

President NATCOMS, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, also confirmed the development, stating that the body had served operators the relevant court notices and based on it, the operators have decided not to

pay the fines.

He said “The operators are not paying. I spoke with two of them on Friday and they confirmed to me that they will not pay the fines based on the notice that we have served them. Although, I could not

speak with the third company, but the other two told me that they will advise that it toed the same line.

Ogunbanjo stated that the notion filed restricted both the CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

‘Airlines lose N300bn annually to capital flight’ Influx of foreign pilots worries experts Wole Shadare

N

igerian airlines pay over N300 billion annually on wages for expatriate pilots and engineers.

This, according to experts, contributes to the huge funds channelled out of the country through capital flight.

Many of the airlines in Ni-

geria such as Arik, Medview, Aero, Dana, IRS, Overland, Chanchangi have over 350 expatriates on their pay roll, while over 200 of Nigerian pilots are said to be roaming the streets, in spite the many years of experience.

According to information, the influx of expatriates has a great consequence on indig-

enous pilots as they predicted that very soon, there be the difficulty in finding experienced indigenous pilots to operate aircraft.

The inability to graduate Nigerian pilots by the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria for close to 10 CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Rates Dashboard

DELE ALAO, Brands/Marketing Editor Abdulwahab Isa, Finance Editor

NEW TELEGRAPH

Telecom operators refuse to pay NCC’s N647m fine

WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor

‘There is no strategic 25manBUSINESS | BRANDS & ADVERTISING power plan for Nigeria’

INFLATION RATE January 2014 ...........................8.00% December 2013.......................8.00% November 2013..........................7.90%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate. . . . . . . . . . . 10.75% Prime Lending Rate. . . . . . 17.01% Maximum Lending Rate. .24.90%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Mar. 7)

USD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N172 Pounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N285 Euro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N235

EXCHANGE RATE

(Official As at Mar. 7)

USD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N159.15 Pounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N266.10 Euro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N223.58

26 business | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Nigeria imports 130 tons of sugar in two months shortage Efforts of the Federal Government to bridge the sugar supply gap proved abortive Bayo Akomolafe

D

espite government’s policy to end sugar importation by 2018, three merchant vessels, Desert Melody, Universal Baltimore and Rachel, have berthed with 130,100 metric tons of the commodity at Greenview Development Nigeria Limited, Lagos Port Complex, Apapa.

Desert Melody just berthed with 42,900 metric tons while Universal Baltimore and Rachel had discharged 43,2000 metric tons and 44,000 metric tons respectively. The Sugar market in the country is estimated at 1.7 million tons.

Brazil earns $1.1bn The country took delivery of $1.1 billion sugar from Brazil between 2012 and 2013.

Data obtained from the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) revealed that the consumption of the commodity in 2012 was 1.108 million tons when domestic production stood at 10,843 tons.

Last year, 1,098,137 tons of sugar was imported into Nigeria at a cost of $517,222,527 million.

The sugar refining capacity in the country is estimated at 2.1 million tons, exceeding the total demand of 1.45 million tons as refineries depend exclusively on brown sugar from Brazil at five per cent duty.

Raw sugar imports have attracted a 10 per cent import duty and a 50 per cent levy

Operators disobey NCC C O N T I N U E D F RO M PAGE 2 5

fined operators from paying the fines and NCC from collecting payment until the matter in court based on was vacated.

Attempts to speak to NCC officials were unsuccessful as both the Head of Public affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo and the Head, Media & Public Relations, Mr. Reuben Muoka, refused to pick their calls despite several attempts.

The President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, said he was not aware if operators had paid the fines imposed on them by NCC. His position had always been that fines were not the solution to poor service quality.

In sanctioning the trio, NCC had insisted that the services they provided for the period fell below expectation, particularly in relation to dropped and incomplete calls.

The regulator has also barred the trio from selling Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards among other things, from March 1 to 31, 2014.

Muoka said the three companies had been barred from all promotions on their networks until they improved on the failed KPIs for which they were sanctioned.

The details of the sanction showed that Airtel Network Limited, and MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, are to pay a fine of N185 mil-

lion each, while Globacom Limited is liable to the tune of N277.5million.

In addition, each of the operators must pay the sanction amount on or before March 7, 2014, failure which each will be liable to pay N2, 500,000 per day as long as the contravention persists.

Muoka said that the sanctions, which were communicated to the three operators in a letter signed by Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, explained that the commission will carry out an audit of the three companies on March 1, 2014 and also on March 31st, 2014, to ensure that no sale of new SIM Cards take place in any of the three networks within the period.

The letter made reference to an earlier directive of December 10, 2014, which warned the operators that “if the Quality of Service does not improve by 31st December, 2013, the Commission will be compelled to direct operators to, among others, suspend the activation of new SIMs and subscribers until such an operator can prove that it has met the Key Performance Indicators specified in the Regulations”.

The NCC set four critical KPIs: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Traffic Channel Congestion (TCHCONG) and Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel Congestion (SDCONG).

since January 2013 in order to encourage local production.

In January 2013, government revised the sugar tariff structure to boost domestic

raw sugar production and create job opportunities.

The new tariffs for raw and refined sugar includes: Zero per cent import duty on machinery and spare parts destined for local sugar manu-

facturing industries; five-year tax holiday for investors in the sugar value chain; 10 per cent import duty and 50 per cent levy on imported raw sugar and 20 per cent duty and 60 per cent levy for imported refined sugar.

L-R: Executive Director, Sterling Bank Plc. Devendra Puri; HRH, Oba Lateef Abayomi Dauda, Onitire of Itire, and Regional Business Executive, Sterling Bank Plc, Abiodun Oladipupo, at the official opening of Itire branch of the Bank, in Lagos.

C O N T I N U E D F RO M PAGE 2 5

years some years back, did incalculable damage to the industry. Many of the ones trained by the defunct Nigeria Airways have retired, died or sought greener pastures offshore.

The carriers relied heavily on poaching at the expense of training until there were no more to be poached. They refused to train until recently when Arik and Bristow Helicopters took the challenge to expend over N500 million in the training of indigenous pilots and engineers.

The boom of foreign pilots and engineers, analysts said is as a result of government’s poor aviation sector employment policy coupled with airline’s lack of confidence in local pilots and engineers.

But Nigerian pilots and engineers have reputation for high performance as many of them like Captain Bob Hayes, Captain Dele Ore, Captain Fola Akinkuotu and many others, distinguished themselves as first class captains.

Nigerian carriers typically pay foreign First Officer between $5, 000 and $6, 000 monthly, while Captains earn between $10, 000 and $15, 000 monthly.

This excludes other perks such as flight allowances and other allowances that make them earn more than three times what Nigerian pilots earn.

‘Airlines lose N300bn annually to capital New Telegraph learnt that Nigerian pilots earn between N1 million and N1.5 million depending on years of experience or number of flying hours accumulated.

Managing Director, IRS Airlines, Mr. Yemi Dada told New Telegraph that expatriates engaged for charter operations earn more and are in the category of people who earn over $15, 000 per month.

For commercial airlines, the IRS boss said it depends on the contract or agreement reached with the hiring airline which may or not involve accommodation. He stated that years of experience and buoyancy of the airline determines what is paid to the expatriates. He however, admitted that their remuneration is huge.

Aviation expert, Mohammed Tukur disclosed that there are too many foreigners in which Nigerians are eminently qualified, a situation which bleeds the economy as 50 per cent of their earnings are repatriated to their home countries.

Tukur explained that cost and tenure of training are also responsible for the airlines’ hiring preference, adding that it takes .a pilot a long time to be

certified, and the cost of training also high.

According to him, “For instance, for a pilot to be trained, he needs to pass through three stages: Private Pilot Licensing stage (PPL), Commercial Pilot Licensing stage (CPL) and Airline Transport Pilot Licensing stage (ATPL). Besides, he said it costs between N8 million and N10 million to train one before proceeding for flight simulator training, which is costly and paid for in foreign currency.

President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) Isaac Balami, said, “It is now becoming a status symbol for Nigerian airlines to show off their expatriate employees, who cost triple to maintain than Nigerians with the same skills and qualifications.

“An average Nigerian flyer, including the airline operators, has no confidence in local pilots.

Imagine some airlines even after training Nigerian pilots as a show of patriotism abandon them and go for expatriates,” he said.

He said airlines prefer to pay an expatriate engineer 16,000 euros per month, when they can spend 5,000 euro on a Nigerian of the same skills.

BUSINESS | MONEYLINE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

NDIC seeks collaboration among monetary agencies

teamwork NDIC wants fiscal and monetary policies alligned Sunday Ojeme

T

he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called on fiscal and monetary agencies to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance toward creating better understanding of their operations.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of NDIC, Alh. Umaru Ibrahim, made this call in Abuja during a two-day seminar organised by the Corporation for the management staff of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He said it was important for the management staff of the Ministry to be apprised with the emerging developments in the financial system and operations of the various regulatory bodies it supervised to enable them effectively discharge their over-sight responsibilities.

He noted that the expediency in the economy had underscored the need for continuous harmony between the formulation of fiscal policies by the Ministry and the monetary

policies being managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other regulatory agencies, which were geared toward sustainable economic growth and development.

Umaru, who was represented at the seminar by the Director, Research, Policy and International Relations, Dr. J. A. Afolabi, reiterated the need to provide the Ministry’s management staff with broad understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics of the Nigerian financial system.

He said the Corporation had carefully drawn experienced resource persons for the seminar from the banking, finance, capital market, deposit insurance, pension and the insurance sectors, to enable the management staff effectively discharge their official functions. He urged other financial regulatory/ supervisory institutions under the Ministry’s supervision to assist in similar capacity building initiatives for the overall benefit of the nation’s

economy.

On deposit insurance, he stressed the need for the participants to appreciate the role of the NDIC as a risk minimizer with expanded mandate of deposit guarantee, bank supervision, bank failure resolu-

T

he Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has emphasised the need to stop the menace of fraud, money laundering, terrorists financing and other economic vices in the banking industry.

The CIBN made this call in Lagos while unveiling training programmes meant to help sensitise business owners on how they could check perpetrators of fraudulent activities.

Noting that impacts of these atrocities on the nation, organisations and individuals were too enormous to be ignored, the Institute’s

As at N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

FX

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

Offer 163.38

First Vice-Chairperson, Lagos Branch, Mrs. Taiwo Ige, said a programme is being organised to provide adequate security for depositors’ funds.

She said in view of the recent policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on biometric authentication of bank customers, the training programme was apt to provide needed education.

The chairperson said that the training became relevant in view of the happenings in the financial sub-sector of the economy, and the need to protect the economy and investors’ funds.

She said: “On identity theft, there have been a lot of reports to banks on compromise of Personal Identity Number especially by people that use

J Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80

try of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, commended the NDIC for organising the seminar in response to the Ministry’s request for capacity building and technical assistance for its management staff.

Automated Teller Machine.

Money laundering is crucial to financial sector of the economy because they are the launching pad through which money exchanged hands.”

The CIBN leader noted that the war against “white collar crimes” could only be fought through effective “new legislation and penalties” as it was being done in other climes, regretting that the battle against the economic vice was far from being won in the country.

Ige said:“The problems of fraud perpetrated through identity theft and money laundering are increasing at an unprecedented rate. Governments worldwide are introducing new legislation and penalties to curb these white collar crimes.

Jaiz Bank wins award

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

tion and bank liquidation. He pointed out that the mandate of the Corporation required proper comprehension and continuous education of all stakeholders.

In her address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Minis-

CIBN moves against money laundering

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

27

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

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

aiz Bank Plc said it had been adjudged the lender with the Unique Banking Products by the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADUCCIMA).

The award, according to a statement, was given to the bank at the just concluded Kaduna International Trade Fair based on the lender’s unique product, Murabaha, Cost Plus Financing.

Murabaha, is a convenient financing product for corporate and individual customers, which is tailored for short-term finance requirements such as working capital or asset acquisition.

According to the statement, the Kaduna branch manager of the Bank, Halilu Mohammed Murtala, who received the award on behalf of the bank, said the bank’s customer base has hit over 60, 000 from.

Murtala told visitors who stormed Jaiz Bank’s stand at the Trade Fair, that the bank has doubled its capital base from N5 billion to over N10 billion.

People from different works of life, according to the statement, trooped the bank’s pavilion to open account and also to enquire on how they can do business with the Bank.

Murtala told them that Jaiz Bank, like every other commercial banks is opened to everybody for businesses irrespective of their religious or regional background.

He said a good number of Jaiz Bank’s staff are Christians and are also from southern part of the country, “and many of our depositors are Christians from Southern part of the country too.”

The Branch Manager also informed the visitors that as at the end of last year, the Bank’s deposits closed with N22 billion balance, “and we hope to double it this year.”

On the national license, he said he hopes to get it any moment from now and “after we get the national license we will open branches in all parts of the country.

28

Sanctity

Monday, Ma

‘There is no strategic man Olumide Akinjo is the Director, Institute for Industrial Technology (IIT), a world class non-profit and all-male technical - vocational school in Lagos. Owned by the African Development Foundation (ADF), the institute offers top-quality hands -on skills training to Nigerian youths and adults mainly from the lower income stratum of society. Its graduates are hot cakes to blue chip companies. Akinjo spoke to SIAKA MOMOH on the need for technical skill development and a strategic manpower plan for the nation.

How will you quantify the skill available in the country now?

The data is not available. When we started, we were never really sure of what would happen, but very quickly, the boys started and finished and they were all employed.

And it has been like that in history. Sometimes, a strike starts today and one or two persons are still hanging around, but, eventually, they all get employed.

How many students do you train yearly?

Up till now, we have been taking only a class because their type of training is rather expensive and we were financing a large part of it through scholarships, grants and so on. When recession hit Europe, many of those grants disappeared and we are now sharing the burden with families. Currently, we are trying to set up an internally revolving fund where these students can get some kind of financial support and when they finish, they can pay back; that way, it is sustainable. We have about 24 students in a class, but, recently, we really looked at it and told ourselves we should scale up because consistently, year-in-year-out, industries keep asking for more and we are not able to meet demands. So, we decided to grow the number. Last year, we did two classes, this year, we are taking three classes. Next year, we want to grow to four classes.

You sure must have some other sources of funding for this project. Don’t you?

We have diverse income streams. We offer training for industries, they send their workers for training. We charge a commercial rate and this helps support the programme of the boys. We train some militants for government. We do fund-raising and charge fees. Government’s policy doesn’t allow government to put money into private schools. And this is one of the things we wish they will review. They can give scholarship to students.

Who are the owners of your institute?

African Development Fund (ADF). Their first project was Lagos Business School.

Ours came up later. Lagos Business School is now part of Pan Atlantic University.

There is a new foundation taking care of Pan Atlantic University.

What are your programmes like?

Our approach is multi-disciplinary, because when we did our survey of the needs of the industry, we found out that we needed someone who could trouble shoot, maintain and install factory, systems that integrate several technologies. So, you do not need just someone who is a mechanic or an electrician; you need someone who can cross boundaries that these traditional professionals have and solve problems.

What we do right now is Electro-mechanics. It covers aspects of Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Industrial Automation.

It gives them a broad base because I do not

Akinjo

think at this time, a student should specialise. The technology in the industry will help you decide where to apply your skill.

Where did you get your model from?

We studied some models in Europe and Asia, we borrowed ideas from them. But largely, the model from Asia (the Philippines) is one that we have adopted a lot from.

But this didn’t originate totally from Asia because Asia borrowed also from Europe.

So, we are using the German model adapted to our own environment which these same fellows had also adapted to their own environment. We had a technical, partner in the Philippines for about three years when we were starting up.

So, ours is a type of training that emphasises the strength of the school and the business firm. So they are like two training centres. Our curriculum cuts across things done in school and training acquired on the factory floor. By the time the student is finishing, he is really ready for work.

How long does your training run for?

They train in school for a total of about 14 months, then 9 months on the factory floor.

We actually partner with companies; we se-

lect the company trainees go to.

What is the problem with the technical education in our tertiary institutions?

When you talk about the university, it is about knowledge, contribution to knowledge, solving some problems in society and all that. So, you see it is research-based – it is academic. So I wouldn’t say there is something necessarily wrong or not wrong in that sense. But what I think is crucial to them is their research. Are they solving problems that are Nigerian-based with their research? Are they taking problems from the society and solving them? This is where I have a problem with them. And that makes them very far from reality. They are not close to what is on ground, the challenges of the country, of the people.

But you talk of vocational education; tertiary education has a clear-cut goal or target or objective. It prepares you for work. It is like in the medical profession – you start in school, that is the academic line, then you go to medical school and you start like an apprentice to some senior people. So, you can see a combination of the academic side and the vocational side. So, one of the things I see

at vocational schools is that they are not really demanding. What does that mean? Vocational schools start from the skill acquisition centres, technical colleges, polytechnics, and universities of technology.

What you see across these institutions is that there is no strategic plan for manpower in Nigeria. Is there a ministry looking at what will be the need of the economy in the next 20 years? Where should we be training people to fit into? That you do not have. That information should be made available to these vocational schools for training plans, to train people that the country needs.

Vocational schools should be as close to the industries as possible. Irrespective of which industry you are dealing with – whether it is at the craftsman level, manufacturing or oil and gas.

There is a clear-cut difference between a university and a vocational institution.

Anybody can go to a vocational school. I can go to a university and then later on go and do ICAN. ICAN is a professional assessment body preparing you to be a chartered accountant. Technical universities are more vocationally-inclined institutions.

29

of Truth

arch 10, 2014

npower plan for Nigeria’ BIODATA Previous Jobs: Head of Administration, Head of Studies, Institute for Industrial Technology School attended: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Degree obtained: BSc Engineering Physics Owners of the Institute: African Development Foundation, Owner of the Lagos Business School, which now part of Pan African University

Are they well equipped for training?

The question I will ask is that are the people working in the universities really equipped for the job they are meant to do?

How much exposure do our university lecturers have? How much research are they doing?

How many papers are they publishing? It is when they engage industries as consultants that they will know what the student needs to know to fit into the industry. I will give you an example: China, easily now, has taken over the production of electronic products.

Name it – whether it is your iPad, your iPhone, your Blackberry. What can you say of Nigeria? Dubai, you talk of tourism.

That means you must have people training people in all aspects of tourism. And they do. In Singapore today, there is training for everybody; there are training schools for all types of professionals.

I think one of the problems that Nigeria poses to foreign investors, apart from security is lack of manpower. Let us assume we clear our security issue, if you come in and invest and you do not get people to run your business, it will get stuck. For example, I am looking at the power sector and asking where will the manpower come from? Who is generating them? These for me are the questions I am asking. I can’t find answers to them.

If we had the kind of long term plan that we are looking at, where will the jobs be?

Where do we want to position ourselves as a country? What kind of information do our educational institutions need? Where do they need to adjust? These are the kind of questions we need to be looking at.

We used to have trade centres. They are all gone, and they are supposed to grow the skills we are talking about now. What is the problem?

There are two issues here, one is our society and the way we view people who graduate from vocational institutions. The other one is funding. There is a social stigma around people who are craftsmen, technicians and so on and so forth. So until we welcome these people and respect them as professionals, then we will not get the right

If you look at the output of our educational systems, there are many graduates coming out and very little number of technical people coming out in a professional way

people going there. Think of your plumber, think of your carpenter who has gone there, a fellow that couldn’t go to school at all. But that is not the idea. We are talking of a guy who loves to do plumbing, a guy who wants to do carpentry. So, we have to by way of jamboree, by way of an enlightenment programme let people know that these jobs are even much more crucial to the economy than some we place our interest in.

I was in a forum recently when the governor of Lagos State was talking. He was precisely bringing students in contact with industries. I think Lagos State is on the right path – they are trying to make education attractive. One of the students asked the question: ‘Is it only dropouts that are meant to be in vocational schools?’ And the governor said ‘I apologise on behalf of my generation and the generation before mine because we have made this thing as if it is for dropouts, but it is not so.’ And he gave examples of how some people can have dexterity with their hands, people with talents. There is no institution really catering for them. To us everybody must go to the university.

Two, vocational education is expensive.

Think of tools, think of consumables, think of experts from industries coming to impart knowledge on new people, and you have to pay them if not what they will earn in the industry but something close to it so that they can sustain themselves. So you are competing with several things when you say you want to employ somebody to be an instructor. We have same challenge here. Easily, my instructors could be in the industry. They really made up their mind to be here that is why they are here.

So for me, these two things are crucial.

Because if you look at it, how much of our budget goes into university education.

Akinjo

Akinjo

How much goes into secondary education.

How much goes into primary? Meanwhile the manpower pyramid is that you should have at the top managers, professionals like engineers, scientists, etc, followed by the technicians, technologists, and then you have the craftsmen. Now what Nigeria has is a big mushroom at the top – we are rolling out graduates – not that our universities are actually adequate, we have a lot of young people that wouldn’t have access to school. Meanwhile, if you look at the output of our educational systems, there are many

graduates coming out and very little number of technical people coming out in a professional way.

You can see many buildings are falling, electrical wirings are faulty. If you look around, how many artisans are Nigerians?

What you find all over the place are Togolese, Beninois and Ghanaians. When you look at all these, you find out that there has to be a concerted effort. What happened in Germany when you have a large part of the workforce coming out from vocational schools? They are resilient despite the recession. It is not by accident. It is a managed process. If we do not embark on that, we are going to have a mismatch.

How do we get things right?

If you look at that pyramid I spoke about earlier on, you will see that we need fewer engineers than technicians; you need more craftsmen than technicians. So, look at the ratios and look at the schools that exist, you will find out that it doesn’t add up. There is a clear cut gap. And if you say you want to do a SWOT analysis of our situation, you will see that there is a real threat. We do not have talents to meet the requirements of anyone who wants to invest in this country.

Are your graduates being paid the kind of salary one can raise one’s thumb up for?

Yes. There are a number of them working for multinationals earning very reasonable salaries. It is a pleasing surprise to us that people are willing to pay for those talents. There are some that are even earning more than a university graduate because they have demonstrated some good skills.

Most of them are in manufacturing and engineering services. They have not even gone into oil; very few people are in that sector. The next one we are looking at is power really – how we can generate enough manpower for the sector.

30 business | NEWSMAKER CEO'S STATUS Ecobank board decides the fate of its Group CEO tommorrow

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Ecobank crisis: A

Ayodele Aminu

P

an-African financial institution, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), which has been in the news of late due to a boardroom dispute over corporate governance, will hold its board meeting tomorrow in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde. The meeting is coming about 17 days after an injunction blocked a similar one that would have discussed the position of its chief executive, Thierry Tanoh.

Precisely on Monday March 3, the bank's shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting passed the Governance Action Plan proposed by the Board of Directors in compliance with the recommendations of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria and contained in a joint report by SEC and the international firm, KPMG. The bank said implementation of the detailed 51, point plan will commence immediately. At their meeting, which was attended by institutional shareholders as well as minority shareholders, the current 12, person Board of Directors of ETI was retained following the decision by the institutional shareholders.

The institutional shareholders include Public Investment Corporation (PIC), of South Africa, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and International Finance Corporation (IFC). They decided to withdraw a motion, which they had proposed to create a smaller Interim Board. This would have run the Bank until immediately after the presentation of the 2013 results expected to take place in June.

The Extraordinary General Meeting also passed resolutions to amend the company’s Articles of Association.

Under the new Articles of Association, ETI shall not undertake any acquisition, merger or disposal of the company’s assets whose value is equal to or above 20 per cent of the book value of the Company without the approval of a simple majority of the shareholders present in General Meeting.

Fund Raising There was also a resolution to authorise the Board of Directors to raise additional capital as the Company may require up to 20 per cent of the current issued capital of the ETI, without reference to the General Meeting at any time within a period of three years from the date of its adoption. But this was not passed. This is even as the rising call for the resignation of its CEO, seems to be dying down.

As Ecobank passes through this storm to reposition and regain battered confidence of stakeholders, analysts at home and abroad have pushed forward a lot of views, which make the impasse a test case for SEC in its ability to enforce corporate governance rules, and a

Ecobank Head Office, Lome, Togo.

big lesson for lenders like First Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and other Nigerian financial institutions, which are rapidly expanding across Africa. The lesson for the banks in the view of most analysts is that such expansion strategies are laced with challenges of coordination of cross-border regulations, burden for group business and recapitalisation of subsidiaries.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in 2012 placed embargo on banks' recapitalisation of foreign subsidiaries, saying the decision was to preserve banks’ capital adequacy ratio and to protect them from harsh regulatory requirements in those countries.

With 44 subsidiaries in 18 countries, Nigerian banks which had become formidable competitors on the continent some years back are re-considering such ventures.

Though not as widely spread as Ecobank, most Nigerian banks have a good number of subsidiaries. Currently, United Bank for Africa Plc has 18 subsidiaries on the continent; Access Bank Plc – eight, but recently divested from one; Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank)

– five; Skye Bank Plc – four; Keystone Bank Limited – four; Diamond Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc, three respectively.

There is a growing consensus among analysts that the ETI experience has a lot of implications for subsidiaries seeking to raise capital.

Some believe that the prospects of raising more capital are diminished because the ETI experience is a pointer to the fact that maintaining such subsidiaries is daily becoming difficult. Some attributed Access Bank's decision a few weeks ago to sell its subsidiary in Ivory Coast to the inability of the bank to cope with these rising difficulties.

Aside differing rules that make control difficult and tolerate corporate governance lapses, experts are of the opinion that, operating across Africa comes with hidden costs and accompanying idiosyncrasies.

In terms of capital raising, given the developments in the US and Europe, there are only a few sources of funds available to all firms desirous of raising capital. Decisions have to taken around these sources by ETI before and after the EGM in manners most experts view as

not so impressive.

ETI had planned to sell some of its assets to raise funds. But the whistle blower and former director risk and finance Laurence do Rego, said Tanoh and the former chairman Mr. Lawson intended to sell assets below its market value possibly for personal interests even though the bank is not a buying and selling enterprise.

Like individuals, companies can borrow money. This can be done privately through bank loans, or it can be done publicly through a debt issue. A company can generate money by selling part of its

This is a big lesson for lenders like First Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and other Nigerian financial institutions, which are rapidly expanding across Africa

BUSINESS | NEWSMAKER

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

31

test case for SEC, others shares to investors, which is known as equity funding. In pursuit of this source of funding, Nedbank of South Africa in December 2011 provided Ecobank with a $285 million three-year convertible facility in support of Ecobank's corporate development prograames, including the acquisition of Oceanic Bank Nigeria.

Currently, Nedbank has been given the option to convert the loan into equity, which may likely allow it to acquire a stake of 10.9 per cent in ETI at a price well above the current share price within the one year.

Disruption of EGM A group of Nigerian shareholders had last week disrupted the Ecobank Group Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at its headquarters in Lome, the Togolese capital, demanding reforms in the administration of the bank.

According to PANA reports, about 100 Nigerian shareholders in the conference room, carried placards.

Ecobank Group, created on the initiative of Nigerian and Togolese businessmen, was rocked by a scandal in 2013, which claimed Mrs. Laurence do Rego, a former finance director of the bank.

The protesting group had succeeded in disrupting the extraordinary general meeting, accusing the chairman of the meeting, André Siaka, of being responsible for embezzlement within the banking group.

The bank's main shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, said in a letter two Saturdays ago, that Tanoh should be dismissed immediately.

They accused him of management breaches and of failing to raise capital.

The extraordinary general meeting of the Bank was convened to discuss, among other things, improved management of the bank, bank reforms, which should see a reduction in the number of managers and the reconstitution of the Board of Directors.

Governance Issue Nigeria’s Capital Market regulator, the SEC, probed Ecobank after its former executive director of risk and finance, alleged senior management fraud. He told the SEC last August that former chairman, Kolapo Lawson, and chief executive officer, Tanoh, planned to sell assets below market value. Both Tanoh and Lawson denied any wrongdoing.

A SEC review of Ecobank last month found “inadequate transparency in the recruitment procedures and mechanisms for board members and executive staff ”, the regulator said January 10. It asked Ecobank to appoint a “substantive” chairman and develop a one-year plan to address the governance issues.

Experts Perspective An international investment and financial advisory firm, Renaissance Capital, (RenCap),looked at this transaction

Ecobank Nigeria MD, Jubril Aku

Sacked Finance Director, Ecobank Group, Laurence de rego

A SEC review of Ecobank found “inadequate transparency in the recruitment procedures and mechanisms for board members and executive staff”. It asked Ecobank to appoint a “substantive” chairman and develop a one-year plan to address the governance issues

CEO, Ecobank Group, Thierry Tanoh

and concluded that the practicability of the two banks linking operations together across Africa is a tough task, even for unitary banking groups. "In this case, we think it is likely to remain difficult as long as Nedbank remains a minority holder in ETI," it stated.

Indeed, every company has to raise funds at some point to develop products and expand into new markets. Tanoh was accused by shareholders as not being able to raise money. This may have informed the position of a faction of top officials of the bank who defended Tanoh on the grounds that the crises in the bank were created long before he took over, leadership of the bank.

SEC has told ETI that it must reinstate Laurence do Rego, pending a probe into her allegations of corporate governance breaches. The bank is yet to officially reinstate Rego.

Managing Director at DaMina, a NewYork based frontier-market risk adviser, Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, suggested that the resignation of ETI's CEO would spur interest from investors. “Hamstrung by a depressed capital market's valuation and recent governance issues, the pan-

African bank may see activist funds and large private equity firms swoop in for equity stakes after Tanoh’s exit,” he said.

Ecobank seems not to buy the idea, which conforms to the views of many of its shareholders.

The political/cultural divide between Francophone and Anglophone Africa and the issue of nations in the sub-region wanting to preserve their sovereignty may also be combining to undermine effective regulation of banks operating across the continent.

Analysts say that the greatest obstacle to establishing a cross-border banking regulatory agency for the region may be the issue of autonomy, as most countries will likely oppose it based on fears that the larger countries such as Nigeria and South Africa will use the agencies to infringe on their sovereignty.

The ability to operate each country sub-unit optimally is also a challenge for banks operating across different jurisdictions.

“ETI needs to deliver economies of scale to drive higher profit growth and generate value for shareholders,” Renaissance Capital analysts, Nothando Ndebele and Adesoji Solanke, wrote in a note released January 27.

“Of key importance is getting Nigeria right, which represents 44 per cent of

group asset base, but only 27 per cent of PBT as at nine months 2013,” they added.

RenCap published a report titled, “Sub-Saharan Banks: The pursuit of the Pan-African dream,” where it argued that based on recent realities, that a number of challenges may have diminished the importance of pan-African banking model.

“Our analysis indicates that there has been limited value creation across the board from pan-African strategies. In most instances, the returns generated in subsidiaries are either negative or fall short of the value created in the home market,” the report said.

For ETI, it has been a trying time given the prolonged period of boardroom crisis in the bank since last year but financial analysts beleive ETI has what it takes to resolve the crisis and once again assert itself as a truly pan-African bank.

Proshare’s analysts in the report titled, “Ecobank Transnational Incorporated: Governance Issues Being Addressed, Banking on Growth,” said: “In our view, the major causes for these issue(s) is the inorganic nature of the company’s growth, with different subsidiaries having different internal and external policies and having to follow different regulatory policies. This combined with a lack of clear and strong oversight by the group management and possible vested interests of various board members has caused these issues,” it said, adding however that the majority of the issues were behind the bank now, and that the bank can now start the process of cleaning up its internal issues, and start the process of growing its asset base on the back of substantiated facts.

According to the report, the company is currently trading at a P/E of 9x TTM compared to the industry average P/E of 13x. "We believe that the company has been undervalued due to various issues faced by it, and that it should trade at higher multiples going forward,” it said.

On some of the challenges before the bank, Proshare’s report listed lack of coordination between central banks as one of the reasons for the crisis in ETI. The report noted that there was no cohesive pan-Africa policy among the various central banks, and given that ETI operates in several countries each with its own set of rules and regulations, it creates some level of inter-operability risk as a wholesale entity. It is also true that since the capital adequacy requirements differ from country to country, one of its subsidiaries may need to recapitalise if new legislations come in, thus resulting in some of ETI’s subsidiary companies being cash rich while others require fresh capital. This is unlike what obtains in the European Union (EU) where there exists one central bank for the union, with all banks conforming to these regulations – making it easier for the banks and the government(s) as well.

32

business | MONEY MARKET REPORT

CBN mop up leaves N200bn in money market outflows More outflows likely this month as investors await return of their money Money Market Liquidity in the money market thinned out to N200 billion after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up about N62 billion at the Open Market Operation (OMO) auction last Tuesday. This trend was reversed at the end of the week as inter-bank rates Thursday dropped by 10.71 per cent following the repayment of treasury bills worth N328.30 billion

by CBN. Nigeria plans to sell N90 billion ($547.61 million) of bonds with maturities of three years and 10 years on March 12 at its third monthly debt auction this year, the Debt Management Office said last Friday.

Foreign Exchange Inter-bank rates at the end of trading last week dropped by 10.71 per cent following the repayment of treasury bills worth N328.30 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Consequently, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Offered Rates (NIBOR) declined across tenor buckets from 14.65 per cent the previous day to 13.08 per cent.

Overnight tenor dropped from 13.91 per cent the previous day to 12.66 per cent on Friday. Similarly, 7 days, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days tenors went down to 12.54 per cent, 12.79 per cent, 13.04 per cent and 13.33 per cent from 14.04 per cent, 14.33 per cent, 14.66 per cent and 14.95 per cent, respectively, the previous day, data from Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ) have indicated.

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Naira notes

Analysts had anticipated a moderation in inter-bank rates following inflows from treasury bills worth N328.30 billion which matured on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Naira at the beginning of last week gained N0.92kobo against the US dollar at the inter-bank market, following the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through foreign exchange auction worth $398.4 million. At the close of trading on Friday, it weakened against the US dollar losing N0.76k at the inter-bank market to close at N164.56/$ as against N163.80/$ the previous day, data from FMDQ have said.

The CBN, during the week, offered $800 million but sold $767.598 million to 21 deposit money banks at the rate of N155.75/$ at its bi-weekly Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) window. This is amid depleting external reserves which, as at March 3, 2014, had fallen to $39.7 billion from $40.11 billion on February 28.

Bonds The bond market last week witnessed mixed trading. Long dated bills recorded another session of sell-offs as yields climbed by an average of 27bps across the 156-day – 352-day bill with the greatest impact seen on the 184-day paper – which is the 182-day paper on offer at the auction in the middle of the week. It advanced by 68bps. The bond market continued its quiet session as average yield rose marginally by 2bps to 13.83 per cent and yields advanced across the curve, save for the April 15s which contracted by 3bps.

Treasury Bills Foreigners stayed away from Nigeria’s latest Treasury bill auction, the first since the suspension of the central bank governor, in a sign that investor

confidence is yet to recover after the banker’s removal.

Nigeria offered N180 billion ($1.10 billion) in Treasury bills on Wednesday, with a similar amount maturing Thursday. It sold N275.09 billion, with yields on the 182- and 364-day papers rising further above 13 per cent, according to the central bank.

Traders said foreign buyers remained on the sidelines and demand was dominated by less risk-averse local investors drawn by the attractive yields.

Equities Nigerian equities market extended its bearish run for the third day last week, even as market capitalisation shed N59 billion to close at N12.509 trillion.

The market has remained bearish since Tuesday as investors tread cautiously, waiting for more companies to release their 2013 financial results.

While some other companies have announced their results, banks are yet to announce.

Market analysts said many investors are eagerly waiting for the performance of banks, hence the cautious trading.

Thirty stocks fell Friday and about eight banking stocks were among price losers.

A further analysis of the price movement chart showed that in terms of sectoral performance, only the NSE Oil/Gas Index gained 1.5 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index fell by 1.03 per cent; the NSE Insurance Index fell by 0.64 per cent while the NSE Banking Index shed 0.34 per cent.

Investors traded 337.46 million shares worth N3.508 billion in 4,258 deals, compared with 341.116 million shares valued at N4.839 billion in 4,993 deals the previous day.

Global Equities World shares rose on Thurs-

day, supported by diplomatic efforts to cool the crisis in Ukraine, while the euro held steady on speculation that the European Central Bank would ease monetary policy later in the day.

European stock-index futures fell, after equities rallied yesterday by the most in eight months, as investors turned their attention from the crisis in Ukraine to economic data from Europe and America. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring in March dropped 0.3 per cent to 3,126 in London. The ECB was expected to keep interest rates on hold but loosen lending conditions to ward off the threat of excessively low inflation and support the euro zone’s fragile economic recovery.

Outlook Bonds Nigeria plans to sell N90 billion ($547.61 million) of bonds with maturities of three years and 10 years on March 12 at its third monthly debt auction this year, the Debt Management Office said on Friday.

The debt office said it would issue N45 billion each of the three- and 10-year bonds, maturing in August 2016 and March 2024 respectively, using the Dutch Auction system. The notes are re-openings of previous issues.

The CBN, during the week, offered $800 million but sold $767.598 million to 21 deposit money banks at the rate of N155.75/$ at its biweekly auction.

Equities Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited, said that investors appear to be shedding stocks due to lack of positive news.

“Looking forward, we expect market participants to keep trading cautiously as we await various companies’ 2013 full year results,” they said.

Treasury Bills With more debt due to mature this week and limited liquidity in the secondary market, more outflows are likely this month as investors await the return of their money, said Ayo Salami, chief investment officer of Asset Manager Duet Group’s Africa Opportunities Fund.

“You don’t have sufficient liquidity to be able to exit by selling in the secondary market.

The worst of the outflows has not happened,” he said.

Rate rises would push down prices on the secondary market.

“Given this scenario, any investor (foreign or local) looking to exit via the secondary market would likely make a loss. So, better to be out of the market completely rather than risk making a loss if forced to exit swiftly,” said Angus Downie, head of economic research at Ecobank.

Interbank Rates Interbank rates are expected to moderate this week following inflows from treasury bills worth N328.30 billion matured on Thursday, March 6, 2014.

The Bills consist of 91-day bills worth N22.97 billion; 97-day bills worth N39.76 billion; 98-day bills worth N16.76 billion; 153day bills worth N49.34 billion; 155-day bills worth N42.35 billion; 182-day bills worth N40.00 billion; and 364-day bills worth N117.12 billion.

BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET REPORT 33

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Stock market nose-dives as profit taking persists Bearish Market speculators cull profits on the stock exchange Chris Ugwu

T

he Nigerian stock market lowered its momentum from the previous week.

After recording a significant rise of 3.30 per cent growth, the market tempo retreated last week, dropping by 0.16 per cent.

This was due to profit-taking by investors in the wake of the cautious optimism that had prevailed in the market in the last three weeks.

Reports of the growing attraction of the Nigerian market to foreign portfolio investors has seen the market oscillating as bargain-hunters and profittakers jostle to take positions.

The gain recorded the previous week was on the back of pronouncement by the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, assuring investing public of continuous convivial investment climate after investor's panicked when the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was suspended over allegations of “various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct.”

The stock market started with a glimpse of hope on Monday, the first trading day of the week and also closed the week on Friday on a positive note.

The bulls narrowly beat the bears, resulting to a marginal gain of N2 billion during the two days’ rally. The market commulatively closed in the red during the week as the remaining three trading days of loss overran the bulls.

Bears set in Consequently, at the close of trading at the weekend, the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation depreciated by 1.53 per cent to close last Friday at 38,952.47 and N12.512 trillion respectively.

Similarly, five of NSE sector indices depreciated during the week with the exception of three, which appreciated. The NSE 30 index fell by 1.66 per cent to close at 1,748.25. NSE Insurance index was down by 2.31 per cent to close at 143.28.

Trading floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange

NSE Consumer Goods dropped by 4.67 per cent to close at 960.71, NSE Lotus II fell by 1.79 per cent to close at 2,789.07, while the NSE-ASeM index also depreciated by 0.30 per cent to close at 956.72.

However, the NSE Banking index appreciated by 0.26 per cent to close at 385.45, the NSE Oil/Gas index rose by 1.37 per cent to close at 305.61 and also the NSE Industrial Goods Index was up by 0.52 to close at 2,582.16.

Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Market on Monday had closed marginally northwards, depicting that the bears are lurking around the corner to take over the activities.

The twin market performance measures, the NSE ASI and market capitalisation, rose by a single basis point on the back of gains on banking and consumer goods stocks.

Activities in the stock market swung between the negative and positive pendulum since the beginning of trade to what market watchers attributed to market forces.

At the close of trading, 23 stocks appreciated, while 33 others constituted the losers’ table.

The twin market indicators, the All-Share Index, rose by 5.54 points or 0.01 per cent from 39.558.89 last Friday, to close at 39,564.43, while the market capitalisation increased by N2 billion or from N12,706 trillion to N12,708 trillion, representing

0.01 per cent increase.

Further analysis of the day's trading showed that Union Dicon and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) Plc topped the day's gainers table with 4.98 per cent each to close at N13.07 and N9.70 per share respectively.

However, irrespective of the result posted by Transcorp Plc at the weekend, the bears ravaged the stock to lead the pack of losers with 9.75 per cent to close at N3.61.

Banks dominate On the activity chart, the Banking sub-sector dominated in volume terms with 91.8 million shares worth N1.12 billion in 1,415 deals. The sub sector was enhanced by the activities in the shares of Zenith Bank and Access Bank Plc. In all, investors exchanged a total of 239.7 million shares, worth N2.44 billion in 4,347 deals.

On Tuesday, the Nigerian equities market regressed as bears dominated transactions.

The twin market performance, which measures the NSE ASI and market capitalisation, dropped by 0.98 per cent.

Market watchers attributed the negative trajectory, which led to substantive aggregate investment loss to profit taking.

Specifically, trading showed that, the market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N117 billion as market sentiments remained negative.

Five most capitalised stocks Dangote Cement Plc

N4 trillion

Nigeria Brewery Plc

N1.1 trillion

Nestle Nig Plc N820.7 billion GTB Plc

N734.4 billion

Zenith Bank Plc

N673.4 billion

At the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index dipped by 0.98 per cent to close at 39,199.41 as against 39,584.43 recorded in the previous session.

In the same vein, market capitalisation depreciated by N117 billion to close at N12.591 trillion as against N12,708 recorded in preceding session.

Banking sub sector led the market transaction volume with 188.6 million units of shares valued at N2.65 billion exchanged in 1,691 deals.

The number of losers at the close of trading session closed higher at 29 as against 25 that recorded gains.

Brewery giant, Nigeria Brewery Plc, led the park of losers with 8.79 per cent to close at N145.00.

On the gainers’ side, UBN recorded 9.17 per cent to lead the gainers, UAC property joined the gainers with 4.90 per

cent to close at N4.90.

At the close of transactions, investors exchanged a total of 342.16 million shares worth N4.8 billion in 4993 transactions.

On Wednesday, the market continued to plummet as the bears sustained tempo on the blue chip companies.

At the close of trading, both performance indices dipped by 0.18 per cent, the ASI lost 71 basis points to close at 39,127.41 as against 39,199.41 recorded the previous day, while the market capitalisation shed N23 billion to close at N12.568 trillion as against N12.591 trillion recorded the previous day.

When the closing bell rang, 29 stocks recorded gains while 43 others shed weight. Transcorp led the gainers with 9.97 per cent to close at N3.97.

On the downward side, NCR dropped by 4.99 per cent to lead the pack of losers, closing at N15.99.

The banking sub-sector Banking sub-sector led the market transaction volume with 539.6 million units of shares valued at N2.09 billion exchanged in 1,484 deals Investors staked a total of 884.2 million shares valued at N4.4 billion in 4,956 deals.

Trading activities on Thursday closed in the red trajectory, as the bear maintained their dominance on the most blue chip companies following investors' persistence on profit taking.

The bear has continued to ravage the stock market, resulting in a dip on investors' wealth, which dropped by N59 billion.

Consequently, the All Share Index lost 0.47 per cent or 182.79 basis points to close at 38,944.62 basis points as against 39.127.41 recorded the previous day, while market capitalisation equally depreciated by N59 billion or 0.47per cent to close at N12.509 trillion as against N12,568 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

At the close of trading, 18 stocks appreciated in value while 32 other shed weight.

Cornerstone Insurance Plc led the gainers' table with 8 per cent to close at 54 kobo per share.

On the flip side, Flour Mills Plc dipped by 6.52 per cent to close at N76.00 per share, while Access Bank lost 4.94 per cent to close at N7.31 per share.

The banking sector of the financial services sector was the most active during the day (measured by turnover volume); with 158.2 million shares worth N1.9 billion exchanged by investors in 1,466 deals.

On the whole, investors staked a total turnover of 337.4 million shares worth N3.5

34

BUSINESS | STOCK WATCH

Market sentiment Investors are taking positions on Honeywell Flour Mills Plc’s strong fundamentals

Chris Ugwu

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Honeywell: Bargain hunters take positions

I

nvestors’ confidence on the shares of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc (HFMP), one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous food products companies, has remained green as bargain hunters continue to jostle to take position.

While other stocks have suffered losses in their value due to low demand, the company has remained upbeat following considerable results and expansion drive.

Market pundits attributed the current position in the share price to investors’ confidence in the prospects of the company, adding that the company’s financial result for the nine months ended December 31, 2013, coupled with the on-going expansion, showed a prosperous future that investors would want to leverage on.

They noted that the company succeeding on Initial Public Offer (IPO) at the heat of the financial meltdown in 2008 was enough substantiation that investors have confidence in the company.

The share price which closed at N2.10 per share on January 2, 2013, when the stock market opened for business in the year, has remained upbeat, gaining about 48 per cent or N1.90 to close at N4.00 as at Friday.

Stockbrokers believe that the performance of the HFM share price at the stock market is considerable, positing positive growth potential. Among its industry competitors, the company’s share movement is impressive in terms of capital appreciation.

Before the company’s integration of its subsidiary as a division, it embarked on a N10 billion expansion project that resulted in an increase in the company’s production capacity by 62 per cent. The development was aimed at ensuring that the company meets the increasing demand for its products. The expansion was successfully completed close to the 2013 year end with the addition of two mills to its existing plant in its Apapa, Lagos factory.

Mr. Babatunde Odunayo, the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company, said that with the expansion, HFM now has the

Odunayo

Stockbrokers believe that the performance of the HFM share price at the stock market is considerable, positing positive growth potential capacity to produce 2,610 metric tons per day of its products.

Odunayo noted that the expansion was a further testimony of consumer confidence and wide acceptance of its products.

“We see this positive trend continuing and are very upbeat about the future growth and prospects for this company,” he said.

He explained to customers recently at a forum that the expansion project, which also included the completion of a-first-of-its-kind automated warehouse in Nigeria, would lead to business growth and more profits for them.

Odunayo stated that aside from the expansion, due to the congestion and space constraint at Tin Can Island Port, the com-

pany had acquired 64 hectares of land around the Sagamu interchange along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway.

It would be recalled that recently, HFMP announced that it has commenced the development of the Honeywell Foods and Agro-allied Complex in Sagamu, Ogun State, where work has commenced on the development of a Pasta plant to increase its current production capacity by about 200 per cent.

The company is also set to raise the bar in the quality of feed available for poultry and fish in the Nigerian market with the development of an integrated animal feed plant within the complex. Both factories are expected to be completed within 18 to 24 months.

He noted that the vast expanse of land would be used for future expansion including new pasta, noodles, and flour factories for increased production of all the products.

In spite of challenging environment for the real sector of the economy due to dart of infrastructure, Honeywell Flour Mills had recorded a profit after tax of N2 billion during the nine months ended December 31, 2013.

The company’s unaudited results for the nine months released to the stock exchange showed that the company grew its profit after tax by 18 per cent from N1.7 billion in the corresponding period of last year to N2 billion.

It also recorded revenue of N41.03 billion between April and December 2013, which represents a 24 per cent increase from the N33.04 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The increase in revenue, according to the company, was driven largely by its increased production capacity, having recently added 1,000MT/day via two new mills.

The income statement also showed that gross profit for the same period was N7.76 billion, from the N5.48 billion reported for the corresponding nine-month period ended December 2012. This was primarily attributed to the company’s ability to manage input costs that resulted in a slower increase (relative to revenue growth) in the cost of sales, which grew by 21 per cent; to N33.27 billion from N27.56 billion.

The company said that increase in operating costs, which rose by 42 per cent from N3.04 billion to N4.33 billion between comparative periods in 2012 and 2013, was due to increased overheads necessary to operate the expanded production capacity, rising finance costs and increased marketing expenses needed to maintain brand equity, to increase consumer awareness and increase product visibility.

Rising finance costs, according to the company, had an adverse impact on profitability as the company fulfilled its obligations on the debt component

of funds used to finance the additional production capacity.

The company lamented the spate of insecurity in some northern states and growing infrastructural deficits, especially bad roads and poor power supply, which continue to pose serious challenges to the smooth operation of HFMP’s activities.

It, however, noted that the management is currently exploring several strategic options to reduce the cost and confident in its ability to continue to thrive within the tough operating environment.

The company noted that the expansion activities contributed to the growth of the company’s total assets from N55.4 billion as at March 2013 to N66.2 billion as at December 2013, a 20 per cent increase.

Commenting on the company’s financial results, Odunayo said that they are in line with its expectation for revenue growth, stemming from its recent expansion and as it moves closer to the end of the financial year, it expects to record an even stronger financial performance in the final quarter.

Monthly Share price Movement of Honeywell Nigeria Plc 2013 April 30

N2.90

May 31

N3.16

June 30

N3.50

July 31

N3.26

Aug 30

N3,18

Sept. 31

N2.99

Oct 31

N2.97

Nov 31

N3.00

Dec 31

N3.67 2014

Jan 31

N5.59

Feb 28

N3.91

Mar 7

N4.00

business | INSURANCE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

35

‘Nigeria’s minimum capital requirement for insurers highest in Africa’ micro insurance N350million for composite operation will ensure sustainability.

Stories by Sunday Ojeme

T

he Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) needed to operate an insurance company in Nigeria has been recorded as the highest in Africa. The capital increase, which has graduated over the years from 25,000 pounds in 1961 to a minimum of N350 million (for micro insurance) today, has, however, not reflected positively on the industry’s Gross Premium Income.

Giving insight into the development in a paper titled, “Unlocking Micro-Insurance Business in Nigeria,” a major stakeholder in the sector, Chief Yemi Soladoye, said while the industry MCR had increased by 6,250 per cent between 1976 and 2011, the Gross Premium Income had only increased by

1,230 per cent.

He said: “The net result is always the death of old players and birth of new players who will later become old players.

This is what puts a question mark on the huge amount of N350 million specified as the MCR for Micro insurance.”

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Riskguard Africa Nigeria Limited, called for the constitution of a National Micro-insurance Goals and Strategy Statement together with National Business Plan and Regulatory Framework by the regulator.

He queried: “How many offices does the regulator expect an operator to open with N350 million? Are we expecting Ajose Adeogun Micro-insurance Companies? Prado Jeep and Ipad MDs, Is Micro-insurance going to be the landing pad for weak commercial underwriters?

Soladoye suggested the "use of five-tier operational model based on Capital Requirement to secure widest coverage of

Micro-insurance in Nigeria; National (350.0m); Regional (90.0m); State (40.0m); LG (10.0m), and Unit (5.0m). The unit and regional approach will reduce cost of doing business” He asserted that lean structure, modest office, appropriate location must all be specified per unit of office outlet by the regulator, adding that since the existing insurance operators do not need any new capital requirement to operate microinsurance, the Indian model of forced-familiarity and the China model of conditional expansion must be explored.

Soladoye further suggested that “Any foreign player seeking entry into the Nigerian market must be given a mandate on the number and percentage of Micro-insurance policies that must form its portfolio over a period of time. The same should apply to the existing underwriters. The first set of Micro-insurance operators could be generated from the small-sized insurance brokers, weak microfinance banks and experienced agents of the existing underwriters.”

The risk expert pointed out that Nigeria was currently in

the 9th position out of the 10 biggest Micro-insurance markets in Africa in absolute figure but number 22 in penetration out of 37 African countries that submitted records on Micro-insurance performance.

He revealed that South Africa topped the list with 27.23 million insured (54.5 per cent of the population) while Nigeria had 1.08 m million insured (0.68 per cent of the population).

“Nigeria has the potential to surpass South Africa in Micro-insurance record if not in penetration at least in absolute figure within five years.

Firm tasks underwriters on auto insure solution

T

he Managing Director of Courteville Business Solutions Plc, Mr. Adebola Akindele, has called on insurance operators to market their products through the aid of Auto Insure business solution.

Akindele, the initiator of Autoreg, said that the Auto Insure project was not an insurance policy but a marketing platform created for insurance companies to market their insurance policies and products.

He said in a statement that the company came up with the system that would automate the process of issuing motor vehicle insurance like the process of issuing motor vehicle licence, adding that most of the insurance companies in the country were already partnering with the company on the product.

Calling on policy makers, government institutions and private sector players to patronise business solutions being offered by indigenous firms to improve the economy, he

asserted that through such opportunities, the nation would experience sustainable growth and development.

He said his company had applied an online solution and technology in eradicating the bottleneck that once characterised motor vehicle administration in Nigeria.

According to him, Egole online marketing platform, a web-based portal that the company created, would allow various merchants of different categories, service providers and consumers to transact business online and real-time, a well thought-through platform that would guarantee both the merchants and consumers convenience.

He said that Courteville Business Solution aimed to diversify its portfolios with less attention on government projects and focus more on the private sector, adding that shareholders of the firm should expect more as the company continually works towards remaining the leader in its sector.

L-R: General Manager, Listings Sales & Retention of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mrs Taba Peterside; Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr Hakeem Belo-Osagie; founding Partner, Udo Udoma and Belo-Osagie, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; Executive Director, Business Development of the NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri; Senior Partner, Udo Udoma and Belo-Osagie, Mrs Myma Belo-Osagie, during a courtesy visit to the Exchange to commemorate the firm’s 30years in legal practice in Lagos.

Insurance vital to business –NCRIB boss indemnity Developing economies should guard against losses.

T

he President Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Ayodapo Shoderu, has restated the importance of insurance to business sustainability especially in an economy that is still growing.

Calling on corporate business institutions to utilise the services of insurance brokers in sustaining their business prospect, Shoderu noted that

the fortunes of businesses and their sustainability were determined by risk management strategies put in place by management, of which insurance is pivotal.

He gave the advice while receiving the Chairman, Geepee Group of companies, Prakash Vaswani, who paid a courtesy visit to the NCRIB Secretariat in Lagos.

According to him,"the extent of risk exposures by most business concerns, especially in the changing global environment calls for proactive initiatives by business managers and this will determine their continued existence."

He reminded the visitors that insurance brokers were always prepared to assist their clients in maximising their insurances as they provide them with different profitable rates, in addition to their rendition of personalised services.

Shoderu stressed that stressing that public confidence in insurance brokerage services had been enhanced by the promulgation of the NCRIB Act 2003 through which the Council regulates the ethical conduct of its members and provide them with regular training exposures to catch up with changing dynamics of the profession.

36 BUSINESS | NEWS cowards Rather than being confrontational, construction firms preffer to soft-pedal Dayo Ayeyemi

C

onstruction firms under the aegis of the Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI), are owed over N200 billion by all the tiers of the government, its Presi-

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

‘Govt owes construction firms N200bn’ dent, Mr. Solomon Ogunbusola, has said.

He disclosed this to New Telegraph on the sidelines of the 2014 Building, Construction and Mining Mart in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The builder said the debt had overstretched his members, who owe banks – from whom they had borrowed at high interest rate.

According to him, because of the huge amount of indebtedness to members by the government, he said his members have been operating under constraints.

He appealed to the government to pay their debts to enable his members sort out their financial problems and carry on their project across the nation.

Rather than being confrontational, he said his members would continue to persuade the government to pay their debts. “If we force the government to pay the money at a time that is not convenient, after the payment, they may not want to give us another contract or job. So, we will continue persuading them,” he said.

FOCI comprises more than 125 construction firm members including notable names like A.G Ferrero and Company Limited, Arab Contractors, B Stabilini, Borini Prono, Brunelli, Julius Berger and other indigenous engineering companies.

Justifying the importance of the sector to the Nigerian economy, the FOCI president emphasised that the

contributions and impact of the building and construction sector could not be neglected in the scheme of things. He said the sector has become a veritable index when it comes to creation of both skilled and unskilled manpower in the country.

Ogunbusola said that the sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 3.2 per cent and that there is room for improvement. He appealed to the government to give jobs to his members.

According to him, expectations were that by the year 2020, Nigeria alongside India will enjoy higher growth rates than notable nations like China in the construction sector.

BCAN seeks bank customers' protection

L-R Executive Director, Commercial, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Kachi Onubogu; Managing Director/CE, Chief Keith Richards and Director General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Paul Orhii, during the launch of Promasidor’s onga cube variant in Lagos.

PHOTO:ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

How to tackle unemployment, by entrepreneurs job creation Twenty five per cent of employable Nigerians are unemployed Bayo Akomolafe

E

ntrepreneurs have urged the government to introduce entrepreneurship education into school curriculum in order to tackle unemployment in Nigeria.

Speaking at the one-day roundtable forum on job creation titled: ‘Pathway to Sustainable Economic Growth’, they stressed the need for entrepreneurship to be made

Sunday Ojeme

T

he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has announced the appointment of Alhaji Mohammed Uba Kari as Deputy Commissioner (Technical) of the Commission.

Until 2012, he was the Managing Director/CEO of UnityKapital Assurance Plc, NAICOM stated in a statement.

compulsory and offered as a course in tertiary institutions by every student in order to tackle unemployment in the country.

General Manager, Cutler Communications, Mrs Laura Oloyede, said out of 800 million in sub-Sahara Africa, 220 million or 45 people were out jobs.

She said that about 40 million or 24 per cent of employable or Nigerians were not employed, adding that none of the 16 countries in sub-Sahara Africa could create jobs for the 220million people.

Oloyede explained that this was why her marketing communications agency

developed an initiative aimed at creating entrepreneurial skills with the focus driven towards job creation.

She said: “The country must promote entrepreneurship education. The pathway to sustainable economic growth is everybody’s initiative.”

Echoing her, the Chief Executive Officer of Netherlands Business School Nigeria, Mr. Lere Baale, said the government should create an enabling environment for private organization and individuals to create jobs.

He advised the government to encourage entrepreneurship to make employee think like an entrepreneur.

A

group of banking professionals has come together to assist bank customers by enlightening them on financial literacy programmes.

This will also help to protect the interest of customers of various financial institutions across the country.

The President, BCAN, Mr. Uju Ogubunka, said the increase in bank charges and sundry deductions by banks formed part of its mandate to educate the public and enlighten them on their rights.

He spoke at the inauguration of the BCAN in Lagos.

Ogubunka noted:“The association is to protect bank customers and to make sure that their interest and whatever that concerns them in their operations with the banks and banking institutions are properly taken care of.”

He said the association has a platform of enquiries that

allows prompt response to issues raised by customers.

He stressed that since it was a membership association, the interests of its members was important to their existence.

The BCAN president commended the CBN for helping to refund N8million to bank customers.

He said the money was deducted by various financial institutions in form of excess charges, and was promptly refunded.

Ogubunka said: “The CBN has reported variously that it had recovered over N8.6billin, if you go through the papers in the past, you will get the details. These are monies that banks shouldn’t have taken from their customers but they took them anyway.”

He added that with their commitment, more issues would be addressed within the limited time based on prompt complaints from affected customers.

FG appoints Kari Deputy Commissioner, NAICOM Kari is an Insurance Graduate (Diploma in Insurance, 1979) of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute London.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Information Technology) from University of Central England

Birmingham, UK (2002) and IT Management Certified Professional from learning Tree Management Institute, London UK 2004).

He started his working career with Royal Exchange Assurance Plc in 1979. Between 1984 and 1989, he worked in Yankari Insurance Company Limited

as Assistant General Manager (Technical).

He joined Niger Insurance Plc in 1989 as Executive Director (Technical) and worked for about three years. He became the Managing Director/CEO in January 1992, a position he held up to March 1993. As a result of his sterling qualities he was

appointed Managing Director/ CEO of National Insurance Corporation (NICON) in March 1993 where he served up to January 2000.

He brings to his new assignment sufficient wealth of experience in insurance underwriting and hands-on administration.

BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS 37

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

7-Mar-14

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to the FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement.

Bonds

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

NA

FGN

Description 10.50 18-MAR-2014 10.75 31-MAR-2014 9.20 29-JUN-2014 9.25 28-SEP-2014 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 16.39 27-JAN-2022 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

18-Mar-11 31-Mar-07 29-Jun-07 28-Sep-07 23-Apr-10 16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 27-Jan-12 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10

10.50 10.75 9.20 9.25 4.00 13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00

320.00 35.00 45.00 100.00 535.00 292.47 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

Price

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

0.03 0.07 0.31 0.56 1.13 2.44 3.14 3.39 3.49 4.23 5.31 5.63 7.89 14.73 15.21 15.71 16.38

12.87 12.95 13.54 14.17 14.28 14.06 14.13 14.00 13.99 13.98 14.04 13.96 13.97 13.66 13.65 13.63 13.66

8.15 10.76 13.04 13.88 14.12 13.98 14.01 13.87 13.87 13.88 13.96 13.86 13.91 13.62 13.60 13.56 13.60

99.91 99.82 98.63 97.43 89.60 97.95 102.35 89.07 87.53 89.73 107.10 73.45 111.30 108.32 92.61 67.08 76.25

100.06 99.97 98.78 97.58 89.75 98.10 102.65 89.37 87.83 90.03 107.40 73.75 111.60 108.62 92.91 67.38 76.55

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

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

4,402.04 Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

***LCRM

Description

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

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

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.65 1.21 1.58 2.76 3.12 3.33

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

15.23 16.98 16.47 16.01 15.49 15.00

90.91 82.03 101.16 88.96 86.02 84.53

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

0.41 0.61 1.48 0.86 1.39 1.39 3.12 1.95 3.82 2.59 4.58 2.79 2.79 3.37 3.26 5.71 3.32 4.12 6.73 4.13 4.16

4.88 5.99 4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 7.60 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.21 1.00 2.46 1.94 2.74 2.74 1.00 1.44 1.95

18.77 20.19 18.68 17.58 18.74 17.76 19.59 21.65 15.78 15.81 14.98 15.01 15.22 15.00 16.46 15.90 16.74 16.72 14.94 15.42 15.93

98.07 96.56 92.30 96.08 94.68 97.65 78.34 88.32 94.98 96.31 96.81 99.08 104.15 98.78 97.77 94.82 95.19 94.46 93.98 101.59 101.24

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds Bbb-/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR Bb+/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 A-/GCR

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

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 30-Sep-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

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

17.00 6.00 8.50 16.50 13.00 18.50 57.00 50.00 25.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40 87.00 5.00 5.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

567.90

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

LAFARGE WAPCO GTB µ NGC *UPDC *FLOURMILLS *CHELLARAMS NAHCO FSDH UBA *C & I LEASING *DANA# *TOWER# # *TOWER

UBA *LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

NAHCO

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

07-Oct-11 18-Dec-09 01-Apr-10 17-Aug-10 09-Dec-10 06-Jan-11 29-Sep-11 25-Oct-13

11.50 13.50 17.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 13.00 14.25

11.80 13.17 2.00 15.00 37.50 1.50 15.00 5.53

07-Oct-14 18-Dec-14 31-Dec-14 17-Aug-15 09-Dec-15 06-Jan-16 29-Sep-16 25-Oct-16

0.59 0.78 0.82 0.97 1.04 1.13 2.56 2.64

1.00 5.21 8.71 4.88 1.00 2.63 1.00 1.34

15.19 19.52 23.04 19.30 15.42 17.02 15.01 15.35

97.98 95.74 95.61 92.28 97.02 97.34 95.82 97.63

30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 09-Apr-11 09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12 14-Nov-13

13.00 18.00 16.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00 15.25

20.00 0.94 8.01 3.63 1.00 35.00 3.00 0.54 2.05

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

3.57 2.18 2.09 2.26 2.26 4.55 2.37 2.70 6.69

4.52 1.88 3.48 5.20 5.06 3.06 2.29 6.11 2.76

18.51 15.91 17.51 19.22 19.08 17.04 16.31 20.12 16.70

86.03 104.84 97.56 97.79 101.76 90.63 99.12 94.14 94.23

11-Feb-18

3.93

1.00

14.99

86.13

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

175.67

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

12.00 Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value ($'mm)

Maturity Date

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

107.78

5.38

106.88

5.53

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

102.43

4.50

101.65

4.70

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

103.66

5.86

102.82

5.97

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

Corporate Eurobonds Afren PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

114.82

3.32

113.54

3.97

GTBank PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

105.98

4.59

104.38

5.34

GTBank PLC II

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

99.29

6.18

98.14

6.47

B+/S&P

Access Bank PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

101.13

6.86

99.92

7.27

B/S&P; B/Fitch

Fidelity Bank PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

96.09

7.99

94.55

8.45

B/Fitch

Afren PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

115.35

6.63

114.31

6.86

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

First Bank PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

104.74

7.08

103.43

7.34

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

Afren PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

100.78

6.48

99.88

6.65

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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

2,960.00

**Treasury Bills DTM 13 20 27 34 41 48 62

FIXINGS Maturity 20-Mar-14 27-Mar-14 3-Apr-14 10-Apr-14 17-Apr-14 24-Apr-14 8-May-14

Bid Discount (%) 12.80 12.80 12.50 12.80 12.50 12.90 12.90

Offer Discount (%) 12.55 12.55 12.25 12.55 12.25 12.65 12.65

Bid Yield (%) 12.86 12.89 12.62 12.95 12.68 13.12 13.19

Tenor CALL 7 DAYS 30 DAYS 60 DAYS 90 DAYS 180 DAYS

NIBOR

Money Market Rate (%) 11.0000 11.2500 11.5417 11.7917 12.0833 12.3750

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.50

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

O/N

10.75

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M

164.75 164.85 165.11 165.72 166.92

164.85 165.13 165.50 166.46 168.24

Tenor Call

REPO

Rate (%) 10.42

NA

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 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030

FGN

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

15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00

452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Description

Issuer

AMCON FMBN

NA

***LCRM

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn)

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

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

DOMINANCE

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

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014

Foreigners dictate the direction of the Nigerian bourse

Stories by Chris Ugwu

F

inancial analysts have called on the authorities to be cautious about the inflow of foreignVALUE investment TOTAL OUTSTANDING in the capital market.

Corporate Bonds A+/Agusto; AA/GCR LAFARGE WAPCO The Nigerian stock market is Aa/Agusto GTB dominated by foreigners.

MarNGC Nil Bbb+/Agusto *UPDC ket watchers believe that the A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS dominance of foreign investors BBB-/GCR *CHELLARAMS A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO appears to be the reasons why A-/Agusto FSDH A+/GCRare dictating UBA they the tune in BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING the Nigerian market.

This is so, BBB+/DataPro; BB+/GCR *DANA A-/DataPro; A-/GCR because anytime they start buy*TOWER AAA/DataPro; A-/GCR *TOWER ing, the bulls return and when A/Agusto; A/GCR UBA Bbb+/Agusto; *LAtake CASERA they stop BBB+/GCR buying and their BBB-/DataPro; BBB-/GCR *CHELLARAMS profit, the bears take over again.

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO TOTALaccording OUTSTANDING This, toVALUE the experts, isSupranational responsible for the back and Bond AAA/S&P IFC is being forth movements that TOTAL OUTSTANDING experienced in theVALUE market.

A senior broker on theIssuer conRating/Agency dition of anonymity told New FGN Eurobonds Telegraph: "Foreigners are not BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P exiting per say, rather what is µ

#

# #

#

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

happening is that they are tak14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 ing away the profits, which they 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 have made both in the 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 equities market and the 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 bonds market.

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 He noted that this develop14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 ment is noticeable this time 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 around because they have de14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 vised a systematic approach to 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 their attitude towards it.

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 "They now do short-term 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 profit taking instead of what 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 obtained in the past whereby 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 they leave their funds in the system for a longer period of 11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 time because of probably the 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 17.00that NGC 31-DEC-2014 fact the longer 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 the more money …But now 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 14.00the CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 that market has crashed, if 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 they stay long they may end up 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 losing their money," he said.

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 The source noted that the isMPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 sue of foreigners coming into MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 the market and exiting at will 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 have always been a big issue MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 since the Nigerian 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020capital market crash of 2008. "Now under a normal market situation, there 10.20to IFCbe 11-FEB-2018 has a level playing field provided by proper and distinct regulation where participants Description are at liberty to enter and exit at will. So, the fact that foreign 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 investors are leaving the eq-

FGN

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

0.65 1.21 1.58 2.76 3.12 3.33

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

05-Aug-09

R

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

1,304.32

ecent gains made by the emerging markets may be 17.00 05-Aug-14 0.41 eroded as market sentiment 6.00 15-Oct-14 0.61 8.50 31-Aug-15 1.48 continued to remain low, fi16.50 30-Sep-15 0.86 13.00 30-Jun-16 1.39 nancial analysts have forecast.

18.50 30-Jun-16 1.39 Analysts at Cordros Capital 57.00 19-Apr-17 3.12 50.00 30-Jun-17 1.95 Limited, expect the global mar25.00 31-Dec-17 3.82 ket (particularly in the advanced 50.00 30-Sep-18 2.59 9.00 04-Oct-18 4.58in region) advance to persist 20.00 09-Dec-18 2.79 March, but gains might be less 12.00 12-Dec-18 2.79 27.00 14-Feb-19 3.37 than what obtained in February .

20.00 02-Oct-19 3.26 80.00 22-Nov-19 In contrast, they noted 5.71 that 30.00 12-Dec-19 3.32 sentiment towards emerging 11.40 30-Sep-20 4.12 87.00 27-Nov-20 markets is still low and that6.73 the 5.00 31-Dec-20 4.13 recent gains may not be sus5.00 06-Jan-21 4.16 tained in this month.

567.90 "In line with our outlook, equi11.80 07-Oct-14 0.59 ties rebounded strongly in Febru13.17 18-Dec-14 0.78 ary after shrugging off a number 2.00 31-Dec-14 0.82 15.00 17-Aug-15 0.97 of negative factors.

During the 37.50 09-Dec-15 1.04

14.00

uity 15-Oct-09 and bond market 14.00 should 31-Aug-10 12.50 not really be an issue because a 30-Sep-10 13.00 30-Jun-11 14.00 properly regulated market like 30-Jun-09 15.50 ours 19-Apr-10 should make provision for 10.00 30-Jun-10and free exit 13.75 points, free entry 30-Dec-10 14.00 depending of 30-Sep-11 on the discretion 14.00 04-Oct-11 the investor, in this14.00 case, the 09-Dec-11 14.50 foreign investor. How 12-Dec-13 14.00the exit 14-Feb-12 15.50 impacts the market is another 02-Oct-12 15.50 14.50 issue22-Nov-12 altogether.

12-Dec-12 14.75 “Don't forget that these same 30-Sep-13 14.75 27-Nov-13 13.50 foreign investors that we were 31-Dec-13 14.50 clamouring for their 06-Jan-14 15.00participation in our market, between the mid 1970's and the late 11.50 1980's07-Oct-11 practically brought the 18-Dec-09 13.50 same01-Apr-10 market down 17.00 in 2008 up until17-Aug-10 now. Please note10.00 that these 09-Dec-10 12.00 foreigners are business men, 06-Jan-11 14.00 1.50 06-Jan-16 1.13 29-Sep-11 13.00 29-Sep-16 2.56 be they investors in stocks or 15.00 25-Oct-13 14.25 5.53 25-Oct-16 2.64 30-Sep-10 13.00 30-Sep-17 3.57 bonds, commodities, pharma- 20.00 30-Nov-12 18.00 0.94 30-Nov-17 2.18 ceuticals etc.

Their motivation itafoam Nigeria Plc has 09-Apr-11 16.00 8.01 09-Apr-18 2.09 09-Sep-11 3.63 2.26in posted09-Sep-18 18 per cent dip is profit with purely18.00 capitalist 09-Sep-11 16.00 1.00 09-Sep-18 2.26 tendencies and so 14.00 they tend 35.00 profit 22-Sep-18 after tax during 22-Sep-11 4.55 18-Oct-13 15.75 3.00 18-Oct-18 year ended 2.37 to gravitate towards markets the financial 17-Feb-12 17.00 0.54 17-Feb-19 2.70 where their profit motive is acSeptember 30, 2012.

14-Nov-13 15.25 2.05 14-Nov-20 6.69 175.67 tualised," he noted.

The company's financial On what can be done to guide reports for the year ended 11-Feb-13 3.93 against this trend, he10.20 said it was 12.00 showed that11-Feb-18 the group profit high time the various processes 12.00 after tax was down by 18 per that have been putCoupon in place cent fromMaturity N501.5million Issue Date (%) both Issue Value ($'mm) Date Bid Yieldto (%) by the regulators and the other N410.3million while its profit decision makers in the capital before tax also fell by 23 per 07-Oct-11 6.75 500.00 28-Jan-21 107.78 market are implemented. cent to N435.5million in the

102.35 89.07 87.53 89.73 107.10 73.45 111.30 108.32 92.61 67.08 76.25

102.65 89.37 87.83 90.03 107.40 73.75 111.60 108.62 92.91 67.38 76.55

#

Monday, March 10, 2014 Valuation Indicative Yield (%) Price 15.23 16.98 16.47 16.01 15.49 15.00

90.91 82.03 101.16 88.96 86.02 84.53

month for example, economic performance data from China 4.88 18.77 98.07 remained weak on average, while 5.99 20.19 96.56 4.44 18.68 92.30 January 2014 manufacturing 3.23 17.58 96.08 4.46in the US 18.74 94.68 data dipped, together 3.48 17.76 97.65 with a downward revision of 5.59 19.59 78.34 the7.60 country's 21.65 Q4-13 GDP 88.32 growth 1.79 15.78 94.98 estimate.

1.80 15.81 96.31 1.00 14.98 96.81 The Ukraine-Russia unrest 1.00 15.01 99.08 was one of the popular head1.21 15.22 104.15 1.00 15.00 98.78 winds that confronted global 2.46 16.46 97.77 1.94 15.90 94.82Notmarkets during the month.

2.74 16.74 95.19 withstanding, stocks remained 2.74 16.72 94.46 1.00 14.94 by increased 93.98 resilient, driven 1.44 15.42 101.59 risk appetite, less emerging 1.95 15.93 101.24 market worries, improved economic performance of the euro 1.00 15.19 97.98 area and better-than-expected 5.21 19.52 95.74 corporate performances," 8.71 23.04 95.61they 4.88 19.30 92.28 noted.

1.00 15.42 97.02 2.63

17.02

97.34

1.00

15.01

95.82

1.34

15.35

97.63

4.52 1.88

18.51 15.91

86.03

Vitafoam’s profit falls to N410m

V

104.84 year under review.

3.48 17.51 97.56 5.20 97.79 However, 19.22 the company's 5.06 19.08 101.76 turnover rose by 12.85 per 3.06 17.04 90.63 2.29 to N16.339billion, 16.31 99.12 cent from 6.11 20.12 94.14 the2.76 N14.479billion it recorded 16.70 94.23 in the year ended September 30, 2012.

1.00 14.99 86.13 The Chairman of the company, Vitafoam, Dr. Bamidele Makanjuola, madeOfferthese Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Price known at the company's AnPrices & Yields nual General Meeting (AGM) 5.38 106.88 5.53 in Lagos.

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

102.43

4.50

101.65

4.70

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

103.66

5.86

102.82

5.97

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

14.01 13.87 13.87 13.88 13.96 13.86 13.91 13.62 13.60 13.56 13.60

Analysts bearish on emerging markets

Sub-National Bonds

Bbb-/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR Bb+/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 A-/GCR

14.13 14.00 13.99 13.98 14.04 13.96 13.97 13.66 13.65 13.63 13.66

Sanctity of Truth

Operators caution on foreign investment inflow Agency Bonds

3.14 3.39 3.49 4.23 5.31 5.63 7.89 14.73 15.21 15.71 16.38

4,402.04

38 business | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Rating/Agency

27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 27-Jan-22 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30

1,500.00

7-Mar-14

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to the FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement.

11.50 FEB 01, 2016 01-Feb-11 11.50 450.00 01-Feb-16 B-/S&P; B/Fitch Afren PLC I 114.82 3.32 113.54 3.97 Corporate Eurobonds

GTBank PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

GTBank PLC II

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

B+/S&P

Access Bank PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

B/S&P; B/Fitch

Fidelity Bank PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

B/Fitch

Afren PLC II

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

FGN Bonds

Rating/Agency

Issuer

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

First Bank PLC

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

Afren PLC III

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE **Treasury Bills DTM 13 20 27 NA 34 41 48 62 69 76 83 90 104 111 118 125 TOTAL OUTSTANDING 132 153 181 272 Rating/Agency 307 321 335 Agency Bonds 349

Maturity 20-Mar-14 27-Mar-14 3-Apr-14 FGN 10-Apr-14 17-Apr-14 24-Apr-14 8-May-14 15-May-14 22-May-14 29-May-14 5-Jun-14 19-Jun-14 26-Jun-14 3-Jul-14 VALUE10-Jul-14 17-Jul-14 7-Aug-14 4-Sep-14 4-Dec-14 Issuer 8-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 19-Feb-15

Description

Issue 10.25 APR 08, 2019

Date

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

10.50 18-MAR-2014 18-Mar-11 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 10.75 31-MAR-2014 31-Mar-07 9.20 29-JUN-2014 29-Jun-07 9.25 28-SEP-2014 28-Sep-07 4.00 23-APR-2015 23-Apr-10 Bid16-AUG-2016 Discount (%) Offer 16-Aug-13 Discount (%) 13.05 12.80 12.55 15.10 27-APR-2017 27-Apr-12 12.80 12.55 9.85 27-JUL-2017 27-Jul-07 12.50 12.25 9.35 31-AUG-2017 31-Aug-07 12.80 12.55 12.50 12.25 10.70 30-MAY-2018 30-May-08 12.90 12.65 16.00 29-JUN-2019 29-Jun-12 12.90 12.65 7.00 23-OCT-2019 23-Oct-09 12.85 12.60 16.39 27-JAN-2022 27-Jan-12 12.90 12.65 13.00 12.75 15.00 28-NOV-2028 28-Nov-08 12.70 12.45 12.49 22-MAY-2029 22-May-09 12.80 12.55 8.50 20-NOV-2029 20-Nov-09 12.85 12.60 10.00 23-JUL-2030 23-Jul-10 13.25 13.00 13.20 13.20 13.20 13.20 12.45 13.20 13.15 13.10 13.15

Description

12.95 12.95 12.95 12.95 12.20 12.95 12.90 12.85 12.90

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 FMBN 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 NA 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 *from the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration ***LCRM 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 # Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills AMCON

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Sub-National Bonds

Bbb-/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR Bb+/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

KWARA NIGER KADUNA Modified Duration *EBONYI Buckets *BENUE *IMO <3 LAGOS 3<5 *BAYELSA>5 EDO Market *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS *EKITI

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 Total Outstanding Porfolio Market 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 Value(Bn) Volume(Bn) 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 1,229.28 1,280.27 10.00 LAGOS 1,044.04 19-APR-2017 951.30 13.75 BAYELSA451.07 30-JUN-2017 591.57 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 2,724.39 2,823.14 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020

Bonds

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

105.98

4.59

104.38

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

99.29

6.18

98.14

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

101.13

6.86

99.92

300.00

02-May-18

96.09

300.00

07-Aug-20

6.88 Value Outstanding 10.25 (N'bn)

Coupon (%) 08-Apr-12 07-Aug-13

Maturity Date 300.00

8.25

10.50 09-Dec-13 10.75 9.20 9.25 4.00 Bid Yield 13.05(%) 12.86 15.10 12.89 9.85 12.62 9.35 12.95 12.68 10.70 13.12 16.00 13.19 7.00 13.17 16.39 13.26 13.40 15.00 13.11 12.49 13.28 8.50 13.37 10.00 13.84

320.00 18-Mar-14 6.63 360.00 35.00 31-Mar-14 2,960.00 45.00 29-Jun-14 100.00 28-Sep-14 FIXINGS 535.00 23-Apr-15 NIBOR 292.47 16-Aug-16 Tenor Rate (%) 452.80 27-Apr-17 CALL 11.0000 20.00 27-Jul-17 7 DAYS 11.2500 31-Aug-17 30100.00 DAYS 11.5417 60300.00 DAYS 11.7917 30-May-18 90351.30 DAYS 12.0833 29-Jun-19 180 DAYS 12.3750 23-Oct-19 365233.90 DAYS 12.7083 600.00 27-Jan-22 75.00 28-Nov-28 NITTY 150.00 22-May-29 Tenor Rate (%) 200.00 20-Nov-29 1M 12.7640 591.57 23-Jul-30 2M 13.1198 3M 4,402.04

13.82 13.86 13.97 14.12 13.72 Issue Date 14.85 14.87 14.89 15.04

13.1461 14.1192 14.5467 14.9322

6M 9M 12M

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn) NIFEX

Current Price ($/N) 978.35 164.6000 24.56 164.7000

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

0.00 BID($/N) 0.00 OFFER ($/N) 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

TTM (Yrs) 08-Apr-19

Bid115.35 Yield (%) 104.74

0.03 12.87 09-Dec-20 100.78 0.07 12.95 0.31 13.54 0.56 14.17 Money Market 1.13 14.28 Tenor Rate (%) 2.44 14.06 OBB 10.50 3.14 14.13 3.39 14.00 O/N 10.75 3.49 13.99 4.23 REPO 13.98 Tenor Rate (%) 5.31 14.04 Call 10.42 5.63 13.96 1M 11.25 7.89 13.97 3M 11.67 6M 12.08 14.73 13.66 15.21 13.65 NOTE: 15.71 13.63 16.38 13.66 :Benchmarks

7.99 Offer Yield 6.63 (%) 7.08

2.76 3.12 3.33

94.55

Bid Price 114.31 103.43

6.47 7.27 8.45

Offer Price 6.86 7.34

8.15 99.91 100.06 6.48 99.88 6.65 10.76 99.82 99.97 13.04 98.63 98.78 13.88 97.43 97.58 Foreign (Spot & Forwards) 14.12 Exchange 89.60 89.75 13.98 97.95 98.10 Tenor Bid ($/N) Offer ($/N) 14.01 102.35 102.65 13.87 89.07 89.37 Spot 164.75 164.85 13.87 87.53 87.83 7D 164.85 165.13 14D 165.11 165.50 13.88 89.73 90.03 1M 165.72 166.46 13.96 107.10 107.40 2M 166.92 168.24 13.86 73.45 73.75 3M 168.57 171.32 13.91 111.30 111.60 6M 172.01 176.22 1Y 179.02 188.29 13.62 108.32 108.62 13.60 92.61 92.91 13.56 67.08 67.38 13.60 76.55 NA :Not76.25 Applicable

* :Amortising Bond µ :Convertible Bond AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria # FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria Risk Life/TTM FMBN: FederalDate MortgageAvg. Bank of Nigeria Premium Maturity (Yrs) IFC: International Finance Corporation (%) LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company NGC: Nigeria-German Company 31-Oct-14 0.65 1.00 UBA: United Bank for Africa 1.21 Company 2.63 UPDC:24-May-15 UAC Property Development 03-Apr-17 2.27 WAPCO:West Africa Portland 1.58 Cement Company

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

5.34

Price

2.00 1.49 1.00

# :Floating Rate Bond ***: Deferred coupon bonds

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

15.23 16.98 16.47 16.01 15.49 15.00

90.91 82.03 101.16 88.96 86.02 84.53

1,304.32

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX 14.00 17.00

05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 31-Aug-10 Weighting by 30-Sep-10 Outstanding Vol 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 45.35 19-Apr-10 33.70 30-Jun-10 20.95 30-Dec-10 100.00 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 30-Sep-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13

14.00 12.50 Weighting by Mkt 13.00 Value 14.00 15.5045.12 10.0038.32 13.7516.56 14.00 100.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 14.50

6.00 8.50 Bucket 16.50 Weighting 13.00 18.50 0.45 57.00 0.34 50.00 0.21 25.00 1.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40 87.00 5.00

05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 31-Aug-15 % Exposure_ 30-Sep-15 Mod_Duration 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 22.05 19-Apr-17 38.66 30-Jun-17 39.29 31-Dec-17 100.00 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 30-Sep-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20

0.41 0.61 1.48 Implied Yield 0.86 1.39 1.39 14.14 3.12 13.99 1.95 13.66 3.82 13.90 2.59 4.58 2.79 2.79 3.37 3.26 5.71 3.32 4.12 6.73 4.13

4.88 5.99 4.44 Implied 3.23Price Portfolio 4.46 3.48 100.2132 5.59 117.1842 7.60 82.4882 1.79 102.2177 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.21 1.00 2.46 1.94 2.74 2.74 1.00 1.44

18.77 20.19 18.68 INDEX 17.58 18.74 17.76 1,013.70 19.59 992.27 21.65 998.59 15.78 994.72 15.81 14.98 15.01 15.22 15.00 16.46 15.90 16.74 16.72 14.94 15.42

98.07 96.56 92.30 YTD Return 96.08 (%) 94.68 97.65 1.3704 78.34 0.7729 88.32 0.1415 94.98 0.5280 96.31 96.81 99.08 104.15 98.78 97.77 94.82 95.19 94.46 93.98 101.59

BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET 39

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at March 7, 2014

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014

Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Daily Summary (Bonds)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 4.00% FGN APR 2015 Federal Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol FG7B2015S2

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 89.91

1

Bond Activity Totals

1

Quantity Traded 25,000 25000

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals

Value Traded 22,859,818.13 22,859,818.13

25,000

22,859,818.13

25000

22,859,818.13

Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

No. of Deals 20 39 14 73

Current Price 0.50 41.05 44.00

Quantity Traded 4,370,202 335,054 62,317 4,767,573

Value Traded 2,193,201.00 13,921,184.63 2,697,121.75 18,811,507.38

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 22 22

Current Price 3.76

Quantity Traded 648,769 648,769

Value Traded 2,451,749.21 2,451,749.21

5,416,342

21,263,256.59

AGRICULTURE Totals

95

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

845,442

9,198,514.92

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 0.72

Quantity Traded 999,376 999,376

Value Traded 703,542.72 703,542.72

Computers and Peripherals OMATEK VENTURES PLC Computers and Peripherals Totals

Symbol OMATEK

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,600 2,600

Value Traded 1,300.00 1,300.00

IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC IT Services Totals

Symbol CWG

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 5.85

Quantity Traded 1,100 1,100

Value Traded 6,116.00 6,116.00

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Symbol CHAMS

No. of Deals 49 49

Current Price 0.56

Quantity Traded 6,940,982 6,940,982

Value Traded 3,711,409.71 3,711,409.71

56

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Page

8

of

15

Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY ICT ICT Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials

Page

1

of

15

Symbol AGLEVENT JOHNHOLT TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 9 1 237 63 310

Symbol COSTAIN

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 21.06

Quantity Traded 16,590 16,590

Value Traded 348,632.04 348,632.04

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Symbol UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) UHOMREIT Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST UPDCREIT Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 50.00 10.00

Quantity Traded 20 150 170

Value Traded 950.00 1,425.00 2,375.00

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Symbol COURTVILLE

Value Traded 277,980.00 608,785.57 7,525,121.10 182,788.29 603,266.48 9,197,941.44

64 Symbol

No. of Deals

Current Price

7,944,058

4,422,368.43

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Current Price 1.50 1.21 3.90 66.00

Quantity Traded 70,965 100 23,795,441 1,197,218 25,063,724

Value Traded 105,897.08 115.00 94,626,193.61 78,509,255.03 173,241,460.72

25,063,724

173,241,460.72

No. of Deals 17 17

Current Price 1.66

Quantity Traded 292,914 292,914

Value Traded 485,304.80 485,304.80

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 75.00

Quantity Traded 23,377 23,377

Value Traded 1,665,666.06 1,665,666.06

CONGLOMERATES Totals

Quantity Traded 104,400 204,191 106,000 87,941 342,748 845,280

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Daily Summary (Equities)

CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Current Price 2.70 3.00 70.70 2.14 1.76

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 5 9 15 15 11 55

HEALTHCARE Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH

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Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC IPWA PLC AND Stock COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC Published by PAINTS The Nigerian Exchange © PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. Building Materials Totals

Symbol AFRPAINTS ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM DNMEYER FIRSTALUM IPWA PAINTCOM PORTPAINT WAPCO

No. of Deals 2 40 7 19 12 79 1 1 2 1 3 30 197

Current Price 2.72 16.90 9.87 45.25 9.70 237.40 1.48 0.50 0.59 1.90 5.40 110.03

Quantity Traded 1,000 787,525 9,680 20,349 27,690 970,856 10,000 1,000 54,000 1,000 Page 30,225 1,046,788 2,960,113

Value Traded 2,590.00 12,812,696.90 91,525.60 903,961.75 265,585.60 228,843,900.85 14,100.00 500.00 31,860.00 1,900.00 9 of 155,089.25 115,150,902.24 358,274,612.19

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Symbol CUTIX NIWICABLE

No. of Deals 5 1 6

Current Price 2.00 0.50

Quantity Traded 251,333 100 251,433

Value Traded 506,997.05 50.00 507,047.05

Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 3 4 7

Current Price 1.63 19.45

Quantity Traded 3,081 13,000 16,081

Value Traded 5,178.75 247,006.38 252,185.13

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Activity Summary on Board EQTY Daily Summary (Equities)

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. UNION DICON SALT PLC. U Tas C of NIG. PLC. Daily Summary 07/03/2014 Food Products Totals Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

333,051

2,501,977.90

Symbol GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 70 18 109 197

40 Current Price 171.73 27.99 146.09

Quantity Traded 2,606,977 414,709 758,195 3,779,881

Value Traded 462,111,264.46 11,251,697.16 110,584,600.36 583,947,561.98

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 82.64

Quantity Traded 12,294 12,294

Value Traded 1,066,750.38 1,066,750.38

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR MULTITREX NASCON NNFM UNIONDICON UTC

No. of Deals 35 48 44 38 1 27 2 5 3 203

Current Price 9.50 10.90 77.99 4.00 0.50 13.00 22.01 13.51 0.57

Quantity Traded 313,398 759,972 418,542 1,241,410 50 370,714 10,020 69,800 57,941 3,241,847

Value Traded 2,980,893.45 8,327,564.48 32,347,408.35 4,965,695.88 25.00 4,785,627.48 209,518.20 896,232.00 31,876.96 54,544,841.80

Daily Summary (Equities)

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Activity Summary on Board EQTY INDUSTRIAL GOODS INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals NATURAL RESOURCES Mining Services MULTIVERSE PLC Mining Services Totals Paper/Forest Products THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. Paper/Forest Products Totals

No. of Deals 74 67 141

Current Price 85.00 1,035.50

Quantity Traded 429,123 145,461 574,584

Value Traded 35,383,138.88 150,690,465.44 186,073,604.32

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 3 1 4

Current Price 4.38 1.66

Quantity Traded 5,000 1,000 6,000

Value Traded 20,850.00 1,580.00 22,430.00

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 36 55 91

Current Price 34.99 47.00

Quantity Traded 480,241 837,362 1,317,603

Value Traded 16,637,484.95 39,292,486.84 55,929,971.79

8,932,209

881,585,160.27

Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY SKYEBANK STERLNBANK

No. of Deals 256 88 51 65 272 239 43

Current Price 7.50 6.89 14.50 2.29 24.99 3.56 2.30

Quantity Traded 52,573,987 7,287,114 2,076,481 1,792,885 19,143,019 16,850,084 26,736,622

Value Traded 394,387,215.64 49,879,925.32 29,585,168.52 4,042,666.22 478,662,213.25 60,834,741.48 58,948,947.26

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

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OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

15

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031 Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

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OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

15

Symbol UBA

No. of Deals 139

Current Price 7.51

Quantity Traded 5,181,890

Value Traded 39,576,609.96

Value Traded 7.90 7.90

5,060

2,532.90

Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 37 37

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 3,037,709 3,037,709

Value Traded 1,518,854.50 1,518,854.50

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 165 165

Current Price 18.41

Quantity Traded 1,784,906 1,784,906

Value Traded 32,901,776.63 32,901,776.63

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL

No. of Deals 25 7 81 8

Current Price 49.12 4.10 104.00 125.98

Quantity Traded 38,895 40,984 564,338 6,377

Value Traded 1,743,097.49 161,257.60 57,016,656.19 787,573.60

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Current Price 54.44 170.00

Quantity Traded 5 35,122 685,721

Value Traded 258.60 5,937,414.20 65,646,257.68

Symbol RTBRISCOE

5,508,336

100,066,888.81

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 1.35

Quantity Traded 122,520 122,520

Value Traded 158,071.80 158,071.80

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 27 17 44

Current Price 4.28 2.75

Quantity Traded 1,021,937 554,905 1,576,842

Value Traded 4,429,570.66 1,525,988.75 5,955,559.41

Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 0.51

Quantity Traded 59,600 59,600

Value Traded 31,438.00 31,438.00

Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC Hospitality Totals

Symbol TANTALIZER

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 210 210

Value Traded 105.00 105.00

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 3

Current Price 0.66

Quantity Traded 15,680

Value Traded 10,635.60

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SERVICES Hotels/Lodging Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol UBN UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

No. of Deals 49 6 15 209 1,432

Current Price 9.81 0.50 1.03 21.45

Quantity Traded 641,226 1,816,370 681,460 10,950,716 Page 145,731,854

Symbol AFRINSURE AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST GNI GUINEAINS INTENEGINS LASACO LAWUNION MANSARD NEM NIGERINS OASISINS PRESTIGE REGALINS SOVRENINS UNIVINSURE

No. of Deals 2 24 8 7 7 2 12 1 2 5 15 6 13 8 1 1 1

Current Price 0.50 0.85 1.05 0.55 0.57 0.50 0.64 0.50 0.50 2.24 0.80 0.50 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded 500,380 2,652,027 20,422,937 62,019,940 142,700 2,200 631,911 500 3,200 132,000 927,281 702,030 4,814,043 1,512,801 200 200 180 Page

Value Traded 6,325,983.31 908,185.00 704,413.80 233,647,862.27 5 of 1,357,503,932.03

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Value Traded 250,190.00 2,211,973.56 21,450,102.59 34,109,567.00 81,339.00 1,100.00 404,423.04 250.00 1,600.00 284,505.00 740,682.61 351,015.00 2,415,741.50 816,972.54 100.00 100.00 90.00

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Current Price

Quantity Traded 15,680

Value Traded 10,635.60

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 10,000 10,000

Value Traded 5,000.00 5,000.00

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA STUDPRESS UPL

No. of Deals 3 2 3 6 14

Current Price 1.72 1.90 2.40 4.08

Quantity Traded 60,000 3,632 1,080 42,320 107,032

Value Traded 99,000.00 6,719.20 2,462.40 168,073.60 276,255.20

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 0.97

Quantity Traded 55,750 55,750

Value Traded 54,468.00 54,468.00

Specialty SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC Specialty Totals

Symbol NSLTECH

No. of Deals 15 15

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 179,600 179,600

Value Traded 89,800.00 89,800.00

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC

Symbol AIRSERVICE

No. of Deals 16

Current Price 3.08

Quantity Traded 634,500

Value Traded 1,949,935.00

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Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY SERVICES Transport-Related Services NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol NAHCO

No. of Deals 34 50

SERVICES Totals

EQTY Board Totals

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CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals

No. of Deals 45 160

Current Price 0.88

Quantity Traded 1,125,510 95,590,040

Value Traded 959,591.19 64,079,343.03

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol RESORTSAL

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 20 20

Value Traded 10.00 10.00

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 73 18 367 51 7 19 92 627

Current Price 3.98 2.21 13.00 3.45 0.60 20.54 2.91

Quantity Traded 4,421,189 282,123 10,176,323 17,889,405 494,219 156,551 6,983,616 40,403,426

Value Traded 17,654,870.78 626,431.08 132,080,350.12 61,701,939.63 296,969.40 3,205,798.06 20,348,255.23 235,914,614.30

281,725,340

1,657,497,899.36

Quantity Traded 162 162

Value Traded 573.48 573.48

2,220 Symbol EKOCORP

No. of Deals 3

Symbol DAARCOMM

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 5.60

Quantity Traded 413,532 1,048,032

Value Traded 2,295,187.30 4,245,122.30

149

3,175,266

10,826,455.31

4,136

342,176,455

3,219,640,359.58

Quantity Traded 10,000 10,000

Value Traded 13,100.00 13,100.00

Activity Summary on Board ASeM

Symbol WAPIC

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Symbol

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Quantity Traded 10 10

Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Equities)

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. Healthcare Providers Totals

Current Price 0.83

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

No. of Deals 1 1

No. of Deals 1 17 139

SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. MANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. OASIS INSURANCE PLC PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Value Traded 2,525.00 2,525.00

Symbol THOMASWY

OIL AND GAS Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Banking Totals

Quantity Traded 5,050 5,050

Symbol MRS TOTAL

Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary as of 07/03/2014 Printed 07/03/2014 14:38:31.031

Current Price 0.50

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC

210

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC.

359,033,844.37

No. of Deals 2 2

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSUMER GOODS Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

3,227,627

Symbol MULTIVERSE

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 3.72

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Symbol MCNICHOLS

No. of Deals 1 1

CONSUMER GOODS Totals OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CAPITAL OIL PLC Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Current Price 1.37

1 Symbol CAPOIL

No. of Deals 1 1

OIL AND GAS Totals

Current Price 0.50

10,000

13,100.00

Quantity Traded 30 30

Value Traded 15.00 15.00

1

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Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board ASeM ASeM Board Totals

2

10,030

13,115.00

Equity Activity Totals

4,138

342,186,485

3,219,653,474.58

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) Exchange Traded Fund Totals

Quantity Traded 147 147

Value Traded 313,110.00 313,110.00

ETF Board Totals

Symbol NEWGOLD

No. of Deals 1 1

1

Current Price 2,130.00

147

313,110.00

ETP Activity Totals

1

147

313,110.00

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40 business | GLOBAL NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

US economy adds 175,000 jobs in February

T

he US economy added 175,000 new jobs in February, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.7 per cent.

The jobs figures, from the US Labour Department, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), were better than many had been expecting and marked a rebound from two weak months.

It had been thought the figures would be affected by recent harsh weather, which had hit much of the country.

But the unemployment rate, based on different statistics, went up slightly from January's 6.6 per cent to 6.7 7 per cent.

February's jobs figure, known as non-farm payrolls

and based on a survey of employers, compares with the 129,000 new jobs created in January.

Analysts had been expecting a rise of about 150,000 last month.

"It is stronger than expected on several fronts," said Camilla Sutton, from Scotia Capital.

"That these numbers came even while weather was bad shows the underlying strength of the US economy."

A large chunk of the gains came from financial and other services, which were responsible for an extra 79,000 jobs.

Construction companies, many of which had been affected by the bad weather, added 15,000 jobs.

But the information sector lost 16,000 jobs, most of them in film and sound recording.

Average hourly earnings in the private sector rose by 3.77 per cent, or about nine cents, to $24.31, the figures show. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.27 per cent.

The unemployment rate is calculated from a different survey, of households, and rose slightly from its lowest level since October 2008. It leaves the total number of unemployed relatively unchanged at 10.5 million.

However, the same survey shows the number of longterm unemployed (defined as those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 203,000 in

Relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 wait for news at a hotel in Beijing.

China’s Feb exports Decline C hina’s exports fell the most since the global financial crisis, dealing another blow to confidence as Communist Party leaders meeting in Beijing assess the risk from the nation’s first onshore bond default.

Shipments abroad dropped 18.1 per cent from a year earlier, the customs administration said in Beijing last Friday, trailing the median estimate for a 7.5 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey of 45 economists. Imports rose 10.1 percent, more than projected, leaving a trade deficit of $23 billion, the biggest in two years.

Distortions in the data from the Lunar New Year holiday and fake invoicing that inflated numbers last year make it harder to assess the true picture. As the nation chases a 7.5 per cent annual growth target, set at last week’s meeting of the

National People’s Congress, officials need to contain stresses in the financial system from the credit boom that began with stimulus measures in 2008.

“People see a lot of negative news coming out of China: growth momentum is slowing and when there is a default of one company they tend to think it’s going to be a systemic problem and spill over into the rest of the economy,” said Ding Shuang, senior China economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “These numbers may support their negative views, that even external demand may not be that strong.”

Even so, the drop in exports isn’t as bad as it appears when taking into account the holiday, the inflated base of last year’s numbers, and a weather-related “soft patch” in the US economy, said Ding, whose forecast of an 8.5 percent decline in sales was closest to the

customs figure.

Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. (002506), a maker of solar cells, on March 7 became the first company to default in China’s onshore bond market after failing to pay full interest due. The number of publicly traded non-financial Chinese companies whose debt-to-equity ratios exceed 200 percent jumped 57 per cent since 2007, according to data has compiled

by Bloomberg.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) last week had its first gain in three, rising 0.1 percent after a 2.7 percent drop the previous week. The yuan posted its biggest weekly increase since October, following a record decline of 1.4 percent in February; on speculation the central bank ceased engineering a decline in the currency to discourage appreciation bets.

February to 3.8 million.

Cold and snowy weather, which has disrupted much of the country, was one of the reasons 601,000 people with jobs stayed at home last month, according to the survey.

The US Federal Reserve has said the severe winter was to blame for recent weaknesses in jobs numbers, retail sales and house building.

Analysts see the latest figures as further evidence the apparent slowdown was only a blip.

"This bodes well for the economy since there were

massive headwinds against it and there had been some data before this indicating that it wouldn't be so strong," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital.

The stronger-than-expected figures are likely to mean the Federal Reserve will continue to withdraw extra support from the economy - a process known as tapering.

The central bank had been spending $85billion a month buying bonds, but has now reduced that to $65bn and plans to cut the programme by $10billion each month.

Montag is BofA’s top-paid banker at $15.5m B ank of America Corp.

(BAC)’s highest-paid senior manager remains coChief Operating Officer Thomas K. Montag, who earned more than his boss Brian T. Moynihan for the fourth straight year.

Montag, according to Bloomberg news, got a 6.9 per cent raise to $15.5 million for 2013, according to a regulatory filing last Friday. That compares with $14 million awarded to Moynihan, 54, representing a 17 per cent increase from 2012 for the chief executive officer.

“I suspect Montag continues to make more than the CEO because of his responsibility bringing in the money,” said David Schmidt, a consultant at executive pay firm James F. Reda & Associates.

“They’re depending on him to build revenue.”

Bank of America, the second-largest US lender, has leaned on Montag’s operations to support earnings as it spent more than $50 billion to settle mortgage disputes.

Montag, 57, is the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) trading head who runs Bank of America’s investment banking and markets divisions. He joined the Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm with the 2009 takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. Montag’s pay included a $5.8 million cash bonus, $8.7 million in restricted stock and a $1 million salary, according to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing covers the bank’s top executives, and doesn’t include the pay of traders or investment-banking managers whose compensation could be higher.

Profit from global banking and markets slipped 10 per cent to $7.9 billion in 2013 excluding accounting charges.

Revenue rose at the divisions while Montag kept risk within company limits, the firm said in the filing. Companywide earnings more than doubled to $11.4 billion as costs from legal settlements subsided.

US consumer credit growth held back by credit card decline T he United States consumer credit grew in January but was held back by a contraction in credit card usage that could be a negative sign for the economy.

Total consumer credit rose by $13.7 billion to $3.1 trillion, the Federal Reserve said on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected consumer

credit to rise by $14 billion in January.

Revolving credit, which mostly measures credit-card use, fell by $226 million during the month. Revolving credit figures can be volatile.

Non-revolving credit, which includes auto loans as well as student loans made by the government, increased $13.9 billion in January.

ENTREPRENEUR STO R I ES O F BU S I N ES S S U CC ES S ES

NEW TELEGRAPH

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newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014

Innovation: The fuel for business growth Folu Adeyeye is a Brand and Business Strategist at Headstart Consulting Limited. He writes about businesses, brands, innovation, and design. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tel: 0802 509 7853 E-mail: fanen.acho@medleypark. com Twitter: @madeinheadstart www.madeinheadstart.net www.facebook.com/headstartconsulting

Folu Adeyeye

N

o matter how advanced a marketplace is, there will always be problems that plague consumers that companies will find difficult to solve. There is an upside to these situations. What is created here is an opportunity for the right company to step up and become profitable by offering a new solution.

When I hear some small business owners talk about innovation, it is usually with some sort of detachment. They often hold the opinion that innovation is for the large corporates who have the resources to support it.

The irony is that, these

30 SECONDS LECTURE

large corporates find it harder to innovate owing to unwillingness to take on the risks involved. More often than not, their size makes them act and respond slower to market changes. Many times because it takes a huge jab at their traditional ways of working.

The truth, however, is that even the smallest businesses, from one-chair barbershops to popcorn vendors on the street, are capable of coming up with ideas that capture customers’ imaginations. When that happens, you can be sure that you are on your way to building a great brand One important thing to keep in mind is, when innovating, failure is the key to success.

As a small business, you have better flexibility, faster de-

cision making process and lesser stakes; these attributes are a natural breeding ground for breath-taking innovation.

You don’t need a big budget to innovate; all you need is some ambition and a great idea!

Find something people need, then do it better Innovation is based on a simple idea: “finding new and better ways of doing old and common things”. This means that as a small business you must constantly be on the lookout for unmet or underserved needs in their market. If you look hard enough, your business can identify these needs and not just serve them, but serve them better. For example, motorists experience considerable strain when cleaning their windshields from the in-

side. So the makers of the device, Windshield Wonder saw an opportunity to address an unaddressed problem, a successful product was born, and the rest is history.

Innovative systems are just as important as innovative products Over the course of servicing the innovation needs of several small businesses, our organisation has found this especially true. The case of a Quick Service Restaurant readily comes to mind. The owner of this small and thriving business had begun to feel the heat of the competition and needed to quickly differentiate its offering in more innovative ways. On a closer look at the business, we discovered that the existing op-

erational process did not make room for growth - at least not the kind the owner wanted.

However, after some market and consumer research as well as a detailed internal analysis, it was clear that the business was ready and needed to launch a new service – Drive Through service. Even though this was going to be a major move forward for the business, they had to reassemble their internal operations, systems and processes to be able to deliver this service.

Take the old and make it new again To successfully innovate as a small business, you don’t have to create new products and services from the scratch.

If you can repurpose an exist-

MENTOR’S

MENTOR’S

MENTOR’S

MENTOR’S

In all negotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees.

Business is really more agreeable than pleasure; it interests the whole mind, the aggregate nature of man more continuously, and more deeply. But it does not look as if it did.

-Francis Bacon

-Walter Bagehot

QUOTE

A good businessman must have nose for business the same way a journalist has nose for news. Once your eyes, ears, nose, heart and brain are trained on business, you sniff business opportunities everywhere. In places where people see a lot of obstacles -Orji Uzor Kalu, Founder Slok Group

Our problem in moneymaking or government affairs is how to remain properly venturesome and experimental without making fools of ourselves.

-Bernard M. Baruch

QUOTE

Business is religion, and religion is business.

The man who does not make a business of his religion has a religious life of no force, and the man who does not make a religion of his business has a business life of no character.

-Maltbie Babcock

QUOTE

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 2

QUOTE

42 BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

MARKETING EDGE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Fast track:

Increasing your customer base

Dr. Chris Williams, the convener of the widely endorsed business boot camp - HEAD 2 HEAD WITH GURUS, is the President of a Lagos-based personal development and enterprise expansion institute – Headstone Academy.

Contact: www.facebook.com/HeadToHead WithGurus Twitter: @head2headNG Tel: +234 081 719 83864, 809 896 9266 Dr. Chris Williams

CONTINUED FROM LAST EDITION

L

ast week we started a series on how to increase your customer base. One of the points we agreed on, is the fact that no business can do without customers. We went further to say that as entrepreneurs, whether aspiring or practicing, what actually keeps us in business, are customers. This week like I promised, we shall be looking at even more exciting ways to get and keep your customers.

Loyalty schemes Let me attempt to paint a picture of what a loyalty scheme is. A loyalty scheme is a reward system that allows people who consistently buy from you to progressively get some kind of discount that is not available to other buyers.

In our business, for example, if you buy more than 5,000 Naira worth of products, you get a loyalty card that allows you a 5% discount on all products you buy. As soon as your accumulated discount gets to a thousand Naira, you can effectively pick up any product of that value in our mart.

Loyalty scheme is not new; airlines have used the principle to grow their business for decades. Frequent flyers accumulate mileage points.

Depending on the frequency

of your flights and by extension your accumulated points, you may even fly for free. You can adapt this principle to any business; big, medium or small. These are the kinds of ideas that keep customers coming back. Why should I fly different airlines, when I can stick to one and get rewarded?

Why should people patronise other businesses when they can patronise you and get rewarded? This noble idea will make people stick with you rather than shop haphazardly.

Sit down and think about it, there’s always a way you can apply it to your business.

Synergy customer referral I still wonder why people have not taken advantage of this customer magnet. What is even more amazing is that many of us do it but we do it very passively. I don’t joke with this customer puller.

This is how it works; think of or write a list of people who do a complementary business to your business and go to them with either a verbal or written proposal. This is what your proposal should simply say, “I run XYZ kind of business. I have clients who need your products. I know you run XYZ complementary business, I have clients who also need

your product. If you refer your clients to me, I’ll refer mine to you.” It is as simple and as practical as that. Let me give you an example to further explain what I mean. Let’s say I run a dog training academy.

Of course the clients’ who bring their dogs for training must buy food and other stuffs at the pet shop. So, I’ll talk to a pet shop owner, “If you refer your clients to my dog academy, I’ll refer those who come to train their dogs at my academy to your pet shop. It’s that simple. It’s a powerful customer finding tool many don’t know about.

What it does is that it turns the other person’s shop into your customer referral centre. Imagine having over 20 of them spread across the city you do business. That’s nonstop access to a well of wealth.

Referral rewards The challenge with this means of getting and retaining customers, is that people who offer such promises of reward rarely keep it. I have often said that the greatest asset an entrepreneur should have is integrity. If you promise to deliver on a particular date, “kill” yourself to ensure you do just that. If you consistently keep your promise, be-

fore long, people will make it a point of duty to defend you against anyone who casts any kind of doubt on your character. There’s nothing as fulfilling as having people who fight for you when you’re not even there.

Start the referral reward with customers you already know. When old customers refer new customers, you can be sure the business will thrive.

The referral reward system is similar to the loyalty scheme.

The only difference is that your customers get points for referring people, and not for the products they buy. I’m sure you must have, at one point or the other, asked a customer to tell other people about your business. The trick here, however, is to turn it into a scheme where customers are sure they’ll get something concrete for referring people.

As they refer people, they get additional points until they can convert those points into something tangible and useful. You can adapt this scheme to suit the nature of your business. Again, all you need to do is to sit down and invest some level of thinking. The idea I have just shared with you is what powers the now popular multi-level marketing system we know. Multi-level market-

Innovation: The fuel for business growth ing product, or if you spot a gap in the market where brands are not offering the improvements to their products that customers would like, there is no reason why you shouldn’t step in.

Let your customers know the true value behind your

product Every great brand you see around always features a compelling story. Whether this story is one of innovation, or adventure or of passion, they help foster the right connections with the consumer. Sharing the story underneath your

business and the value proposition behind your product or service, is a sure way to stand out of the sea of competition.

Most importantly, until your organisation is willing to rethink its relationship with its customers, re-imagine what the future will look like,

and reset its view of the industry it competes in, it’s not really innovative.

If you’re really committed to innovation, don’t just talk about it. Live it.

ing has been found to be the fastest growing industry in the world. What is the idea behind MLM? They give you commission on referral. I know a lot of people may not subscribe to multi-level marketing but that does not stop you from using the principle to grow your business. Let me bring it to the level of someone who bakes cake for a living. This is what your proposal should look like…” I see you love this particular cake. I have seen you look at it several times. If you can refer 10 clients to my business, you’ll get the cake for free on your next birthday” Free campaigns Campaigns that ride on the concept of “free” are effective customer pullers. If you are in the medical line for example, free eye test, free cholesterol check, free… you name it. It increases your popularity and endears the campaign community to you. I have heard people complain of the disadvantage s of this method. Well, all I can say is that it works for me.

Like I love to say, just because you don’t know how a thing works doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Till when next I write, keep doing business the right way!

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4 1

Innovation is based on a simple idea: “finding new and better ways of doing old and common things

BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE WEEK

Gbonjubola Sanni

SME and Personal Financial Management Expert,

Gbonjubola Sanni:

I’m advocating financial literacy for children

BOTTOMLINE: Ensure you have the skill, heart, ability, personality and experiences that will get you going in the business.

T

ell us about yourself?

My names are Gbonjubola Olanike Sanni. I am a Chartered Accountant, with particular interest in Financial Management for Small and Medium Enterprises. I’m also a Financial Coach who has co-authored two books on Financial Literacy for children. Interestingly, I didn’t start out as a financial expert even though I have always had a flare for numbers. I hold a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from the University of Ilorin in Kwara State, after which I proceeded to work in the Audit Practice of KPMG Professional Services, Lagos (Nigeria. It was there I got extensive and deep experience and responsibility for providing audit and advisory services to clients in the manufacturing, telecommunication and other

consumer market industries.

This experience helped me when I left KPMG to work in Cadbury Nigeria Plc as the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager.

What informed the need to go into your line of business?

I am passionate about seeing individuals and businesses reach their highest potential. I know when they can master their finances it is easier to master other aspects of their lived. My studies on money show that the art of mastering money helps one to learn a lot of values which are currently absent in our society. Someone who is handling his or her finances well obviously has long term vision, plans and detailed goals to get him or her there. He or she has learnt the art of delayed gratification and also uses the power of compounding interest to work in the favour of his or her personal or business finance. As a Nigerian, I see a future where more businesses are deliberately structured to become conglomerates, and this can only become a reality when

the small and medium enterprises are helped to start out well financially.

How does your job serve other industries and the economy in general?

Getting finances right is the crux of any business because the business owner actually started out, in the first place, to make money amongst other goals. As such, no industry or economy can do without a financial expert. Our job as financial solution providers is to help businesses get started on the right foot financially so as to make this goal a reality. When we are able to build better businesses it will impact on our GDP and thus the financial wellbeing of the country.

I am also very passionate about the next generation and that’s why I am also advocating Financial Literacy for Children. When our children get the right foundation, financially, then we will have a richer society because people will live their dreams as against work for a living.

Did you always know you’ll

be an entrepreneur from the onset?

I always wanted to make a difference in the financial industry but not exactly as an entrepreneur. The dream to launch out into the world of entrepreneurship came dream came as I progressed in my career as an employee of organizations such as KPMG Professional Services and then Cadbury Nigeria Plc. I, however, couldn’t contain the inherent urge to proffer solutions whenever I see gaps in the society and this led to me taking a big leap to start out as an entrepreneur.

What would you say are the benefits of entrepreneurship and what benefit do you enjoy best?

Entrepreneurship is an exciting journey. It has allowed me to add value to different people and organizations I have come in contact with in interesting ways. It’s been an opportunity for me to soar without boundaries while also having the freedom of time. It’s an opportunity for me to serve my world with all God has deposited in me instead of waiting till when I will retire. There’s an illusion that we can only give to our world when we retire.

Life is all about service and success can only be achieved when we serve.

What is your turning point in business?

I would say the turning point came for me when I discovered that people struggle through life without harnessing their God given abilities and talents or achieving any definite goal because they are only struggling to make ends meet. This happened when I got involved with teaching financial intelligence in Avenues to Wealth, an international company with a mission to empower distributors worldwide to attain and maintain the financial strength they desire. I found out that people lacked the necessary financial intelligence because it is not offered as a course in our educational system; this made people fail continually in business and in their personal finances. I, therefore, resolved to dedicate my efforts to help people succeed in discovering and developing their talents, while also working towards achieving financial freedom by helping as an SME and Personal Fi-

43

nancial Management Expert.

Where do you see the industry in the next 5, 10 years?

The financial services industry is a huge industry.

Like accountants usually joke “no thriving business can do without us”. I see a financial services industry that accommodates the Small and Medium Enterprises such that there is a plan to help them grow from being small and medium to becoming big corporations like we have in the developed world.

I see an industry that helps people start out early to become financial giants in the society.

What is your advice to an aspiring entrepreneur planning to come into your line of business?

My advice to anyone planning to come into my line of business is “look inwards and ensure that what you want to do is in your SHAPE”. Ensure you have the skill, heart, ability, personality and experiences that will get you going in the business. Business can be challenging and it is only your inner energy that will get you going when the chips are down. Don’t try to be like anyone. You are unique in your own way and it’s your uniqueness that will help you solve problems and add value to the lives of others. When you eventually decide to start, you need to stay consistent on your line of business, focusing on the reason why you started, and give it all it takes till you are able to make that big break.

It might take time but you will surely get there.

Business can be challenging and it is only your inner energy that will get you going when the chips are down. Don’t try to be like anyone. You are unique in your own way and it’s your uniqueness that will help you solve problems and add value to the lives of others

44 BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Customer Service: 6 kinds of customers you must face George Essien is designated Peak Performance Consultant(PPC) and Chief Inspirational Officer Of Powerminds Community Contact: powermindscommunity@ yahoo.com, essien_success@ yahoo.com, drgeorgeessien@ gmail.com.. Twitter: @ GeorgeEssienPPC. Facebook@George Essien Tel: 08187133153

George Essien

CONTINUED FROM LAST EDITION

A

nd you – should they buy from you, so you can meet your target?

Should they invest?

The relator is often concerned about opinions. His office will most likely have a frame picture or pictures of his family on his desk.

So how do you sell to this customer? You simply take notice. The tone of a relator

is obvious: he is soft spoken.

His office is organised and simple. His atmosphere is calm. The ambience around him is easy.

A sensitive entrepreneur or salesperson will notice this.

ANALYSER: These customers are the critical ones. They are meticulous about details. They want to see facts, figures, the records, recommendations,

PO WER POINT Awareness: This may take various shapes and forms; faceto-face selling, advertising, social media, sales promotion etc

Interest: From the results of the awareness, further enquiry is made to aid buying decision

B ULSI BIRNA REY S S

registrations, catalogues, receipts and data. They study everything and ask a lot of questions. They are also wary of fast talkers. To sell to them, you will have to come prepared. You should preempt questions they could ask and have answers for them. If they are investors, for example, they would want to take time to study your proposal or business plan. They want to check its viability. You

will meet them in your business life so be prepared.

It is good for entrepreneurs to know exactly what they want to do. Blind passion is not enough. Focus on details.

Do feasibility studies so that you don’t scatter your energy.

I will continue next time. I hope that you now realise, more than ever, how important selling is as a factor in the success of your small business. Beyond

that, knowing customers and investors you may deal with is also pertinent.

ENDS NEXT EDITION

It is good for entrepreneurs to know exactly what they want to do.

Blind passion is not enough.

New product adoption process: A mental process through which a prospect learns about a product and makes decision whether to buy or not.

Evaluation: How does the product meet my need?

If response is positive, a trial purchase is made

Trial purchase: The impression the buyer gets after this first buy determines if he/ she will buy again

Post purchase evaluation: Purchase is evaluated and if response is positive a repeat purchase is made

Decision to repurchase: Here the customer or client has developed an emotional bond with the product or service

Repurchase: The final stage in the product adoption process. When a customer consistently buys, it means he/she has adopted the product.

This kind of customer is a loyalist. Do all you can to keep them.

What are you reading this week?

Entrepreneurs who lead, read. Here are two books you should read this week.

The Entrepreneur Equation

The Lean Startup

By Carol Roth

The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively.

Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, and learn what customers really want.

In The Entrepreneur Equation. Carol Roth helps you learn how to stack the odds of success in your favour and ultimately decide if business ownership is the bes possible path for you, now or ever. Carol helps you understand what it takes to build a valuable business as well as how to assess the risk and rewards of business ownership based on your personal circumstances.

By Eric Ries

For feedback and Information Please contact the Project Coordinator: ENTREPRENEUR Phone: +234 803 721 9064 | +234 809 551 0411 | Email: mailyourthoughts@gmail.com | www.book-brands.com

METRO

rch 10, 2014

uspect

21

Couple steal N8.6m, flee to Benin Republic United in CRIME Husband, wife and four children flee after the man steals his employer’s $50,000 Juliana Francis

A

SS3), after his father’s death.

The suspect, who added that his other sells sachet water to take re of him and his only sister, add: “I decided to join robbery after y landlord gave me quit notice d I desperately needed money. I ed in one-room apartment and e rent was N24,000 per annum.”

Otu explained that after brain orming for a solution to his acmmodation problem, he decided visit a club in his area.

He said: “It was there I met a end of mine. We used to call him boy. We grew up together and it d been long since we last saw ch other. We had a lot of catchg up to do. We got talking and he d me that he was into robbery. e exchanged phone numbers and ent our different ways.”

When he got home, Otu told his end, Nsidewu, who connected m with Bashiru.

He said: “It was from the 800,000 we got from the robbery, at we rented a rifle, N200,000 from boy for the second operation.”

45

man, who allegedly stole his employer’s $50,000 (about N8.6 million) and fled to the Republic of Benin, has been arrested by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

The 32-year-old suspect, identified as Festus Chukwuemeka, an employee of a Bureau de Change, told his wife, Blessing, about his action.

The couple with their four children fled to Benin Republic.

The couple were finally tracked down to Idiroko area of Benin Republic by detectives from the SFU, after a petition from the owner of the money.

Chukwuemeka was said to have changed all his phone numbers after absconding with the money, which he was supposed to take to the bank for his boss.

The SFU spokesperson, Ngozi Isintume-Agu, who confirmed the incident, explained that a petition dated January 27, was sent to the Commissioner of Police, in charge of SFU, alleging that the suspect was sent to the bank along with three other staff by the complainant to collect $50,000 each for foreign exchange business.

But surprisingly, the suspect disappeared with the money and switched off his phones.

According to Isintume-Agu, the suspect changed his phone numbers and was only in contact with his wife, Blessing and his girlfriend, one Susan Ehwefan.

The police in collaboration with a communication company, which the suspect subscribes to, was able to track him down in Republic of Benin where he was hiding.

She said: “He stated that he was employed as a driver to his boss and was sent with the other staff to collect $50,000 from CBN and as soon as he collected the money, he bolted to Cotonou with the said sum and switched off all his phones.

in three days

rnment Area of Anambra State. e said: “He is into cargo business and mpanies goods from China to Lagos. ated that his office is located at Block op 169 A.P.T. Market Trade Fair, Lagos. he suspect confessed to the alleged e but stated that the multiple accounts ened was to enable him run his busisuccessfully. He said that the cashless y does not allow him to withdraw huge of money in one account and as such, as advised to open multiple accounts so spread his money.” ntume-Agu added that the suspect explained that he had N50,000 each in ferent accounts while the remaining unts have N20,000, N10,000 and N5,000 ctively. cording to the police, the suspect also ssed that the National Identity Card and tility bills used in opening the accounts

were all forged by one ‘Pepper’ who is still at large.

“The suspect came back from China on January 27 and started the multiple account opening from February 5, to February 7 when he was apprehended. Investigation is on-going to unravel the suspect’s motive behind the multiple account opening,” Isintume-Agu said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Unit, DCP Zubairu Muazu, according to Isintume-Agu, has advised the banks to properly cross-check and scrutinise their prospective customers before opening accounts for them.

She said Muazu commended the Zenith Bank management for its quick discovery of the antics of the fraudster and advised other banks to be at alert for such scammers working as a syndicate to defraud the public.

“The suspect alerted his wife to run away with their four children, which she immediately complied with. The suspect was arrested in Benin Republic with the assistance of Benin Republic police authorities while he was trying to purchase a Hiace Bus.” The police said that Chukuwuemeka confessed to the crime, saying that $17,000 was with his wife at a village after Idiroko.

Isintume-Agu disclosed that the wife admitted that the husband called her on January 21 and told her to run away from the house to avoid police arrest because he had stolen money from his employer.

“She was arrested at Idiroko in a friend’s house where she was hiding. The sum of $15,000,

2,620,000CF and N76,500 was recovered from her,” Isintume-Agu said.

She added that the suspect was an old employee of the Bureau de Change and hails from Umuoma Okpofe in Ezinihite Mbaise, Imo State.

According to her, Chukuwuemeka is also a mechanical engineering graduate of Abia State University.

She said investigation was going on, adding that the suspects would soon be charged to court.

According to her, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of SFU, Zubairu Muazu, called on the public to be wary of domestic servants.

Muazu said servants should not be exposed to valuables that would tempt them.

Firm donates N5m classroom block to Ondo school Babatope Okeowo Akure

A

company operating in Ondo State has donated a block of three classrooms to Ejioba High School in Oba-Ile in Akure North Local Government Area of the state.

The Managing Director of Stoneworks Industrial Limited, Mr Safe Oluwafemi, handed over the modern classrooms worth N5 million to the Oloba of Oba-Ile, Oba J. O. Agunbiade at the weekend.

The quarry company, which specialises in all forms of stone works, has its headquarters and operational base in Oba-Ile. The elated monarch expressed appreciation to the company, asking other firms operating in the town to help in the development of Oba-Ile. Agunbiade said development of infrastructure should not be left for the government alone and that both corporate organisations and individuals

should help in the development of the state.

He urged other companies to emulate the good example set

by Stoneworks.

Oluwafemi said the gesture was part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the company.

The MD disclosed that the firm had graded some roads for the community and had given scholarships to indigents citizens of the town.

He said: “We are stakeholders in this community, we believe our impact must be felt hence the need for this building.”

Oluwafemi said the company felt the need of the community and decided to help out as “we believe that we have social contract with the environment we are working in.

“We have made a statement that we are interested in the area of education, provision of water, scholarships and roads”.

According to him, a five-kilometre road was graded for anoth-

Oba Agunbiade cutting the tape to inaugurate the building

er community in Oba-Ile, saying the gesture would not stop.

Oluwafemi appealed to organisations, companies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and well-meaning individuals to support the school, Oba-Ile community.

The future, according to him, depends on the youths.

In his speech, the Principal of the school, Mr Olu Owolabi, said the donation would serve as a challenge to all and sundry especially the well to do in society, especially in Oba-Ile community.

Owolabi said the funding of education had gone beyond what government alone cope cope with hence the need for community, private and other stakeholders’ participation in education funding and development.

The Senior Boy, Joshua Obey, said the students would now be able to study under conducive environment, noting that it would enhance their performance.

46 NEWS

ADVICE

Ex-NBA president says Nigeria could still get something tangible from Confab

Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

F

ormer President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has said to make the efforts and resources used in convening the coming National Conference worth the while, decisions reached during the exercise must not be advisory but binding on state institutions.

In a chat in Ikere-Eki-

Monday, March 10, 2014

Make confab decisions binding, not advisory - Olanipekun ti at the weekend, the legal luminary opined that while some people would have wanted a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), the expected one could still be used to address issues threatening the nation's corporate existence.

On whether the conference would not be a waste of energy since the county is simultaneously trying to amend its constitution, Olanipekun said though it would have been better if the

conference gives birth to the type of constitution the nation would adopt as was the case in some countries, Nigeria could still get something tangible from the conference.

He added that there was no legal barrier to President Goodluck Jonathan convening the conference as long as it was in the best interest of Nigerians.

Olanipekun posited that sovereignty lies with the people and submitted that nothing could

stop Nigerians from discussing issues that affect their corporate existence contrary to positions being canvassed by some of his learned colleagues.

The ex-Chairman of the University of Ibadan Governing Council said Nigerians should give President Jonathan the benefit of the doubt that he would make a success out of the proposed conference, rather than jumping into hasty conclusion.

On the claim by some

Nigerians that SNC would have been desirable, Olanipekun said, "Whether it is National Conference or Sovereign National Conference, Nigerians must start from somewhere.

We have to cross-fertilize ideas on how best to run the country, whether the

2015: Group wants 50% affirmative action for Nigerian women Yekeen Nurudeen ABUJA

A

Marketing Manager, Ecobank PLC, Janet Owolabi (left), being attended to by the Zonal Business Manager, Airtel Lagos Central Region Akinloye, Adebisi in the newly commissioned Airtel Express Shop located at Green Plaza, Olowora Junction, Isheri, Magodo, Lagos …at the weekend.

Angry residents protest CCECC's neglect over rock blasts Yekeen Nurudeen ABUJA

W

orkers of Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) handling the Abuja, Kaduna railway project were at the weekend stopped from working by angry residents of Garam community, a suburb of Bwari Area Council of FCT, but located in Tafa Local Government of Niger state.

The protesters numbering about 50 had mobilised as early as 6:30 am on Saturday to the construction site

protesting what they described as insensitivity on the issue of compensation due to them.

A twin rock blast carried out by the company in January and February while constructing the railway had damaged some properties in the community.

The blast had left many houses shattered while some suffered serious structural damages following which the company's Public Relations Manager, Aminu Mohammed appealed to the victims that CCECC would take responsibility for the blast and com-

pensate them adequately.

However, one week after taking stock of the damages, the company had done nothing while the oncome of rainfall has made living in the damaged houses very uncomfortable. They blocked all the entry and exit points to different sites of the company in the locality with rocks forcing workers comprising Nigerians and Chinese to abandon work for the day.

Addressing the protesters, the company's personnel manager, Davids Oladokun, apologized on behalf of the

company for the damages and discomfort the blasts have brought to them.

He gave assurance that the company had started work on all the stock of damages taken with a view to giving adequate compensations.

However, not long after the personnel manager’s departure, men of the Nigerian Army attached to the site office of the company arrived in a Hilux Toyota Van. The heavily armed soldiers ordered that all the roads earlier blocked by the protesters be removed.

Presidential System of government should continue or not. We have to go there and listen to discussions. "…I want to believe that it is the conference that will breed, nurture and give birth to a constitution for this country.

s Nigeria and the rest of the world marked this year's International Women's Day on Saturday, a non-governmental organisation based in the nation's capital, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, has called for 50 percent affirmative action in the next political dispensation.

According to President of the Foundation, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu, the call for 50 percent affirmative action was premised on the performance of women folk in President Goodluck Jonathan's cabinet, stressing that there is need to upscale the per-

centage from 35 to 50.

Mrs. Ahmadu, who disclosed this to journalists over the weekend, as part of activities marking this year’s celebration in Abuja, stressed that representatives of Nigerian women in the present administration have performed creditably well such that Nigerian women have to demand for equal percentage with their male counterparts.

The Helpline founder said that as 2015 general elections approach, more women should be encouraged and allowed to vie for political offices while government should not hesitate to appoint deserving women into appropriate positions.

Gaseous emission: School reopens today Mojeed Alabi

T

here are strong indications that the Ogba Junior Grammar School, which was shut down last Thursday following the collapse of about 13 students, who inhaled gaseous substance allegedly emitted from a neighbouring photographic laboratory, will today reopen for academic activities.

This is even as the Lagos State Government is yet to unravel the mystery surrounding the incident, the second in six months.

Investigations by New Telegraph revealed that the security guards attached to the school had been informed to be pre-

pared to open the gate for the pupils today.

Meanwhile, when New Telegraph called the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Jide Lawal, he said that he was yet to be fully briefed on the development, but pledged to confirm the update from the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, and report back to our correspondent. But as at the time of filing this report he was yet to call back.

Following the incident, 12 students were rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja. But they have since been discharged.

NEWS 47

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

APC, PDP at ‘war’ over Islam Julius Toba Abuja

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ll Progressives Congress, APC yesterday made a declaration that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is afraid of the religion of Islam.

This came as the party warned PDP to stop stereotyping people on the basis of their religion, saying "enough is enough".

APC, in a statement released in Lagos yesterday and signed by its interim

National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, accused PDP of not relenting in its alleged efforts at painting all Muslims as terrorists, adding that the ruling party suffers from Islamophobia.

It added that the fact that PDP's reference to its Road Map as a product of 'Janjaweed Ideology' was a thinly-veiled religious blackmail.

However, in a swift reaction yesterday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said has said it

stands by its statement that the APC is pursuing a Janjaweed ideology, adding that the road map unveiled by the opposition party last week was “a roadmap to perdition.”

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement issued yesterday blasted the APC for alleging that the ruling party engaged in Islamaphobia in its earlier statement where it described the APC ideology as a Janjaweed product.

The PDP maintained that the ideology of APC is the same as the Janjaweed as well as the AntiBalaka and the Seleka of the Central African Republic whose ideology is completely anarchists.

The ruling party insisted that it will be out of place for anybody to associate APC with Islam or any other religion for that matter, adding that no religion encourages the promotion of violence, greed, destruction and lust for

power which are the trademarks of the APC. Charging the APC to stop the heinous attempt at hiding under Islam to curry public sympathy, the PDP said the APC has since shown that it is a party that has no respect for Islam, adding that no true Muslim would identify with a party made up of anarchists bound together by the lust to power and desperation to rule by any means including shedding of blood.

Stating that the PDP has more committed Muslims, and who are worshipping Allah in truth more than the APC, the statement noted that the PDP is led by a very dedicated muslim as National Chairman and who replaced another prominent Muslim National Chairman.

It said the comment on its roadmap was a further attempt to pigeonhole the APC as an Islamic party, instead of engaging in a constructive critique of its Road Map.

SERAP backs Soyinka’s rejection of centenary award AWARD Group wants FG to disclose the amount spent on centenary celebrations

S

ocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has backed Nobel Laureate, Professor. Wole Soyinka, in rejecting the centenary award, because corrupt persons and those who ruled the country by the force of arms were also slated for the same award.

It said that, “any public award to indicted corrupt public officials sends a wrong message to the people and it amounts to a triumph of corruption over public probity and integrity.”

In a statement, yesterday, signed by SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization said that, “the award to the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, considered as one of the most corrupt leaders the country ever had, could not be justified on any ground whatsoever, and it sends the message that corruption pays."

The group added, “Granting awards to indicted corrupt public officials represents an attack on the country’s international anti-corruption obligations and commitments, and can only further encourage corrupt politicians to continue to pursue personal interests

with impunity, instead of catering to the Nigerian public.”

It also said that tackling high-level official corruption and impunity is not as high on the list of this government’s priorities as it should be, demanding that the Federal Government should explain to Nigerians how much exactly it spent on the centenary celebration.

It said that the government’s plea that the award was on the ground of Abacha’s supposed contribution to national development “does not fly in the face of the massive stealing of public funds which took place during his years of misrule, corruption, and grave human rights violations.”

The group said that the government should attempt to wish away the negative effects of corruption perpetrated by ‘leaders’ like Abacha. It said that if government was truly interested in the fight against corruption, it should have used the centenary awards to celebrate public integrity and not corruption.”

“Hospitals without drugs, bad roads, poor electricity supply, contaminated and undrinkable water and collapsed educational system provide strong evidence of legacies of devastation successive governments of which Abacha was a key player left behind,” the group said.

L-R: Registrar/CEO, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr. ‘Uju Ogubunka; Managing Director/CEO, Enterprise Bank, Mr. Ahmed Kuru and Executive Director, Lagos and South West, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, during a courtesy visit to the bank in Lagos

67,627

The total population of Andorra.

Source: Worldfactsandfigures.com

6

The number of countries that border the Black Sea. Source: Cia.gov

2.5m

The number of people who die of harmful use of alcohol in a year.

Source: Who.int

NMA urges Edo govt to Fuel scarcity hits Bauchi establish HIS Yuzarsif Alhassan

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he Chairman of Edo State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Emmanuel Ighodaro, has called on the state government to establish a Health Insurance Scheme (HIS) for the people. He said that it was important for the state government to establish the scheme to enable the residents have access to good healthcare.

He explained that many people in the state had no access to health facilities because of lack of resources.

According to him, government was expected to ensure that the people had access to health services.

“The issue of health in-

surance is paramount; when every individual in the state is insured, they don’t need to have money in their pockets to access quality healthcare.

No nation can attain sustainable development when its citizens struggle to access healthcare from their earnings.

"This is because everyone is contributing and not everyone is accessing at the same time, but there is a constant pool of fund when needed,” he stated.

Ighodaro explained further that health insurance was a shared burden which allowed individuals and government to contribute toward the healthcare of the citizenry.

Bauchi

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o the current fuel scarcity being experienced nationwide, Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi State has been thrown into hardship as commuters could not move from one point of the town to another as taxis and motorcycles have become very few as a result of fuel shortage.

In interviews with some drivers as well as Okada riders, known as Achaba they seem to be holding the Federal Government (FG) responsible for the fuel scarcity saying that it was part of the government’s ploy to increase fuel price.

They expressed deep concerned on the matter,

adding that the scarcity of fuel among others, had been a source of threat to not only the drivers and Okada riders but passengers that use commercial vehicles and Okada to travel.

At ‘AYM’ Shafa filling stations that had experienced long queue, black marketers were ther selling between N200 and N400 per litre.

The commodity was going for between N130 and N140 per litre at majority of the filling stations across the state. Some commercial drivers and okada riders explained that the high price of petrol was not the matter but how to get the fuel or petrol in timefor their business.

48 NEWS

Monday, March 10, 2014

Jega to brief bishops on 2015 elections CATHOLIC

Catholic Bishops to meet with Jega over polls preparation Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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hairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru jega, has said he would today, brief bishops of the Catholic Church on the preparations for 2015 general elections.

The bishops under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) will today meet in Abuja, where they would be briefed by President Goodluck Jonathan on the security situation in the country, especially in the Northeast. This is coming on the heels of the Lenten period of the Catholic community.

It would be recalled that Boko Haram sect had burnt more than 500 Catholic churches as well as schools in Maiduguri and other parts of the North.

The sect had also killed several priests, Catholic faithfuls, school children as well as other innocent citizens.

Among issues slated for discussion at the conference are solutions to religious fanaticism and intolerance as well as evangelism in a securitychallenging environment.

Other issues are the rule of law, credible electoral process, effective societal policing, among many others Bishop Oliver DasheDoeme, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, who is nicknamed Boko Haram Bishop, is among over 100 bishops, attending the conference.

L-R: Ekiti State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola Richie-Adewusi; Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Governor, Kayode Fayemi, acknowledging cheers from Emure Local Government delegates during the International Women's Day celebration in Ado-Ekiti... on Saturday

Crisis mars 4th tier elections in Imo APATHY

Low turn out at polls for community government council

Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

Elechi threatens to eject rice millers Ewa Nnanna ABAKALIKI

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bonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi has warned members, of the Abakaliki Rice Mill Owners Association that they would be ejected if they failed to relocate from the Abakaliki rice mill cluster to the three new clusters built for them in the three senatorial zones by the state government.

Elechi gave the warning at Nkwegu Ugbala Grand Arena at a thankyou visit organised by the state government to members of the Abakaliki Urban Forum.

It will be recalled that the association took the government to the National Industrial Court, Enugu, following the decision to relocate its members from the Abakaliki cluster. But the court ruled in favour of the state government, prompting the association to appeal.

The governor told the millers that nothing

would stop his administration from relocating them.

He said: “If you don’t move, we will move you.”

Elechi said what was delaying the relocation was the non-completion of a road leading to one of the clusters.

He said the cluster constituted environmental hazard to residents of Abakaliki, especially students of the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS).

The governor berated the association for its recalcitrant attitude towards the government’s policies and directives.

According to him, two other business groups, the timber dealers and the stone crushers, relocated to their clusters in the outskirts of Abakaliki.

Elechi said: “We told the rice millers to relocate, but unlike others, they took us to court. The court decided the case in our favour, but they headed for the Appeal Court."

V

iolence and voters’ aparthy have marred the election of the 4th tier government of Governor Rochas Okorocha in Imo State.

The election into the Community Government Council (CGC), which is not known

by the Nigerian law was over the weekend, marred by controversy as well as litigations over its legality.

The election had been shifted several times due to litigations trailing the community government, but the governor finally fixed Saturday, March 8, 2014 for the election.

Unlike local government elections, which attract many voters, the election into the 4th tier community council was marred by aparthy and low turnout, just as scarcity of petroleum products did not help matters.

At Nnato Nwafor Autonomous Community in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area, only few voters were sighted at the voting centres. Voting did not take place in Awa community, Oguta Local Government Area of the state as voters did not show-up for the election.

Also, in Owerri Municipal Council, there was nothing to suggest that any election took place in the area as no polling centre was sighted. Ditto for Orji community in Owerri North Local Govern-

Okorocha, aide battle for APC governorship ticket Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

A

s preparations for 2015 general elections gather momentum, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and his former Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development and now Chairman, Imo State Housing Corporation, Prince Charles Onuoha, are battling for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in the state.

Okorocha had during his 2011 governorship campaign, promised to

execute his programmes within a single-term of four years, after which he would pursue his presidential ambition in 2015.

But the governor made a sudden volte-face to bid for a second term as governor of the state, thus causing uneasy calm among his loyalists.

The governor had reportedly anchored his decision to seek re-election on alleged threat by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take over the state, alleging that he is the only person with the capacity to stop the party from returning to

power in the state.

Onuoha, who served Okorocha as commissioner before his present appointment, urged his boss to toe the path of honour by abiding by his single-term promise as well as handing over to Owerri Zone, whose turn he usurped in 2011.

The governorship hopeful, who fielded questions from newsmen over the weekend in Owerri, the Imo State Capital said, “Beyond Governor Okorocha's one-term promise, my ambition to take over power from him is driven by what trans-

ment Area. Only a handful of people, mostly women, gathered at the Community Government Council Office, waiting endlessly for the exercise to commence, which never happened untill afternoon, when a handfull of voters started showing up for the election.

In Anara community in Isiala Mbano LGA, the election could not hold as two opposing groups destroyed canopies set for the exercise and in the ensuing conflict, most voters were forced to go home.

pired on January 15, 2014, when the governor convened stakeholders meeting in government house, where he categorically told us that he was going to Abuja, urging those with governorship ambition to declare their intention”.

Continuing, Onuoha said, “Of course, having contested the Labour Party ticket in 2011 and lost to fraudulent primaries before joining APGA (All Progressive Grand Alliance) to actualize Okorocha's victory in 2011, it became an opportunity for me to openly make my intention known to the party. " The governor even expressed happiness and declared to ensure that my dream did not die”.

NEWS 49

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

FORCE Libya moves to stop oil loading in rebel-held port

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ibya's Defence Ministry has authorized the military to use force to stop a North Korean-flagged tanker from loading crude oil at a rebel-held port, bypassing the Tripoli government, it said yesterday.

The tanker docked on Saturday at the eastern terminal of Es Sider, one of three ports seized by rebels since August to press demands for autonomy and a bigger share of oil revenue. Local daily, al-Wasat said the ship had loaded $36 million of crude.

The rebel oil sale illustrates the deepening

Libya authorizes use of force against North Korean-flagged tanker turmoil in the OPEC producer, which has failed to rein in fighters who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but who now defy state authority.

In Tripoli, workers at a state oil firm that runs Es Sider port went on strike, urging the government to intervene because their colleagues were under duress from armed protesters.

"We are very angry at what is happening at Es Sider," said Salah Madari, an oil worker in the capital. "The port's control officer is being held at gunpoint," he said, adding that gunmen had also forced a

pilot to guide the tanker into dock.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Saturday the military would bomb the 37,000-tonne Morning Glory if it tried to leave the port, one of Libya's biggest oil terminals.

"The Defence Ministry issued orders to the chief of staff, air force and navy to deal with this tanker which entered Libyan waters without official

permission," it said in a statement. "The order authorizes the use of force and puts the responsibility for any resulting damage on the ship owner."

Spokesmen for the state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) and for the protesters said the tanker was still docked at the port.

A Reuters reporter who visited Es Sider on Saturday evening saw a small

number of protesters at the gate. One said their orders were not to let staff out until the loading was complete.

The rebels are led by former anti-Gaddafi commander Ibrahim Jathran, who once led a brigade paid by the state to protect oil facilities. He turned against the government and seized Es Sider and two other eastern ports with thousands of his

men in August.

Tripoli has held indirect talks with Jathran, but fears his demand for a greater share of oil revenue for eastern Libya might lead to secession. The region felt disadvantaged under Gaddafi and wants to restore the oil revenue share it received under his predecessor King Idris, who was toppled in 1970.

Family of S.African hostage in Yemen pleads for his release

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he family of a South African man held hostage in Yemen by Al-Qaeda militants made a plea yesterday for his release, a month after a deadline for ransom passed.

Pierre Korkie has been held captive since May last year and his abductors are demanding a $3 million (2.2 million euros) ransom for his return.

His wife, Yolande, who was released in January, reiterated that the South African government had "made it clear" to her that "it does not pay ransom" for kidnapped citizens and that no money has been given to a local charity or a mediator to pay Korkie's ransom.

"The family is very concerned about Pierre's situation," Yolande and her family said in a statement.

"His health is at grave risk, and without communication with the kidnappers, his safety is unknown."

The 56-year-old man is said to be in poor health, and is suffering from a hernia.

Korkie's wife was released with the help of a mediator from one of Yemen's powerful tribes working

with the local charity group, The Gift of the Givers.

"Yolande pleads with the captors to release Pierre, or to engage Gift of the Givers or the family directly with a view to come to an agreement about Pierre's release," the family statement said.

The charity has also been working to secure Korkie's release, but last month, said it had lost contact with Al-Qaeda.

The couple from the central city of Bloemfontein had worked as teachers in Yemen for four years, when they were abducted in the city of Taiz by members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Hundreds of people have been abducted in Yemen in the past 15 years, nearly all of them by disgruntled tribesmen who freed their hostages unharmed after short periods of captivity.

The hostages are used as bargaining chips in disputes with the centralgovernment.

But AQAP, which is regarded by Washington as the global jihadist network's most dangerous affiliate, has brought a new, more threatening twist to the kidnappings.

Rebels under Ibrahim Jathran, a former anti-Gaddafi rebel who seized the port and two others with thousands of his men in August, stand guard at the entrance of the Es Sider export terminal where a North Korean-flagged tanker has docked in Ras Lanuf on Saturday

Restrictions, poor International experts to equipment hinder Darfur monitor Algeria election â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Foreign Minister peace mission â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Ban

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estrictions by Sudan's government and the inadequate equipment of some peacekeepers in the Darfur region are hindering their ability to protect civilians and aid workers while violence increases, the UN chief says.

Ban Ki-moon made the comments in a review of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) which the UN Security Council ordered last July, according to a copy received yesterday

by AFP. He also called upon the Security Council to endorse a set of recommendations "so that UNAMID can more effectively assist the many civilians affected by violence, insecurity and deprivation in Darfur."

The six-year-old mission with more than 19,000 soldiers and police is one of the

world's largest peacekeeping operations.

But the dynamics of Darfur's 11-year old conflict, where clashes between rebels and government forces continue sporadically, have changed recently, prompting the review.

Over the past two years, Sudan's deteriorating economy has led to worsening crime and inter-communal clashes, the report says, adding that some cash-poor paramilitaries have joined the tribal fighting over gold and other resources.

UNAMID itself has increasingly become a victim of the region's violence.

"In 2013, UNAMID suffered 19 attacks, resulting in 16 dead and 27 injured and a significant loss of vehicles, weapons and ammunition," Ban says in the review.

I

nternational organisations and experts are to send observers to monitor the April 17 presidential election in Algeria, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said yesterday.

"Along with the Arab League mission which includes 110 observers, the African Union has decided to deploy 200 observers to monitor the presidential election," Lamamra said in Cairo after signing an agreement with the League.

The foreign minister, quoted by the national news agency APS, added that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

would also send observers.

The European Union and the United Nations will be represented by two groups of experts to provide technical monitoring of voting, Lamamra said.

Last November, he said Algeria accepted as compatible with its legislation, 17 out of 32 EU proposals issued by a European delegation which monitored local and general elections in May. The delegation said afterwards that European observers had not had access to electoral rolls as Algiers considered these to be "confidential."

50 NEWS | WORLD

Monday, March 10, 2014

Suicide bomber kills 45 in Iraqi city of Hilla

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suicide bomber driving a minibus packed with explosives killed at least 45 people and wounded 157 yesterday in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, police and medical sources said.

The attacker approached a main checkpoint at a northern entrance to the largely Shi'ite Muslim city and detonated the minibus, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

At least 50 cars were set ablaze with passengers trapped

inside and part of the checkpoint complex was destroyed, the officer said.

Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda have been regaining ground in Iraq over the past year, particularly in the western province of Anbar bordering Syria.

No one claimed responsibility for yesterday attack, but the deputy chairman of Hilla provincial council, Aqeel alRubaie, accused al Qaeda of being behind the bombing.

Rubaie said the local government had received tips that al Qaeda-affiliates hiding in farmland north of Hilla were plotting a strike.

He said the violence was a spillover from fighting in neighboring Anbar, where the Shi'iteled government has been battling the al Qaeda faction the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) around the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.

"We have evidence that al Qaeda terrorists are stand-

ing behind the suicide attack today and since the breakout of fighting in Anbar, al Qaeda has stepped up attacks in Hilla," Rubaie told Reuters.

"We can't separate today's attack from Anbar's fight."

The scene of the attack was strewn with debris from the checkpoint, and the shells of burnt out cars littered the road.

"I was sitting inside my kiosk when suddenly a horrible blast threw me outside and hurled my groceries up in the

Russian forces tighten grip on Crimea despite U.S. warning

Colombia vote seen as referendum on rebel peace talks

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ussian forces tightened their grip on Crimea yesterday despite a U.S. warning to Moscow that annexing the southern Ukrainian region would close the door to diplomacy in a tense East-West standoff.

Russian forces' seizure of the Black Sea peninsula has been bloodless but tensions are mounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups that have taken over the regional parliament to make Crimea part of Russia.

The operation to seize Crimea began within days of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich's flight from the country last month. Yanukovich was toppled after three months of demonstrations against a decision to spurn a free trade deal with the European Union for closer ties with Russia.

In the latest armed action, Russians took over a Ukrainian border post on the western edge of Crimea at around 6 a.m. (0400) GMT, trapping about 30 personnel inside, a border guard spokesman said.

The spokesman, Oleh Slobodyan, said Russian forces now controlled 11 border guard posts across Crimea, a former Russian territory that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and has an ethnic Russian majority.

In Simferopol, Crimea's main city, pro- and anti-Russian groups held rival rallies.

About 300 opponents of Russian-backed plans for Crimea to secede gathered around a monument to national hero Taras Shevchenko, carrying blue and yellow balloons the

air. I saw cars set ablaze with people burning inside," said Abu Nawar, owner of a makeshift kiosk made of palm tree leaves near the checkpoint.

Police were using cutting equipment to break into the blackened vehicles and lift out the bodies, the police officer said.

"A policeman thought the minibus was suspicious and he asked the driver to pull over for a check, but the vehicle exploded," the officer said.

The blast went off at the checkpoint during morning rush hour, as dozens of cars were waiting

Plane disappearance: Malaysia investigators probe possible airport security lapse

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alaysian officials are poring over CCTV footage and questioning immigration officers and guards at Kuala Lumpur's international airport, concerned that a security breach may be connected to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Suspicions that the Beijingbound Boeing jet, which vanished on Saturday with 239 people on board, may have been hijacked or bombed have risen after at least two passengers were found to be using stolen passports, though Malaysia's government stressed it was considering all possibilities.

Malaysian investigators, assisted by the FBI, are probing the identities of four passengers in particular, two Malaysian officials with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.

The four comprise two travelers with European passports, possibly Ukrainian, in addition to two travelling on stolen Austrian and Italian passports, the sources said.

"We have deployed our investigators to look through all the security camera footage.

Also, they are interviewing immigration officials who let the imposters through," said one official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

"Early indications show some sort of a security lapse, but I cannot say any further right now."

The head of Malaysia's civil aviation authority told reporters yesterday that two "imposters" had been identified by investigators as they made their way from check-in, through immigration to the departure gate. Malaysia's transport minister, Hishamuddin Hussein, confirmed that investigators were looking at four passengers.

A spokesperson for Malaysia Airports Holdings, which operates the country's airports, declined to comment.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that the country's airport security protocols would be re-

viewed, The Star newspaper reported.

Asked how strongly investigators suspected foul play, the second official said: "There are initial indications, but it's too early ... who knows what happened on that plane. But we are keeping our minds open."

The timing of the incident, a week after knife-wielding assailants killed at least 29 people at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, led to speculation that militants from China's Uighur Muslim minority could be involved.

One of the Malaysian officials said the authorities were not ruling out Uighur involvement in the jet's disappearance, noting that Uighurs were deported to China from Malaysia in 2011 and 2012 for carrying false passports.

"This is not being ruled out.

We have sent back Uighurs who had false passports before. It is too early to say whether there is a link," the official said.

olombians went to the polls yesterday to elect new legislators, in a vote seen as a referendum on peace talks with leftist guerrillas and a bellwether for May's presidential election.

The voting, which got under way at 1300 GMT, comes with the government locked in talks with Marxist rebels which have dominated political life in Colombia since the negotiations opened in late 2012.

Now Colombians will weigh on those talks spearheaded by negotiators representing President Jose Manuel Santos, who is expected to announce his bid for re-election this week.

Santos's government has been holding talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Latin America's oldest insurgency, which has been at war with the Colombian state for 50 years.

His three-party coalition government is expected to retain control of both chambers of Congress -- a tacit endorsement of the peace talks, although some war-weary Colombians have reservations.

"It is highly likely that the president will retain a strong majority," said Sandra Borda, professor of political science at the University of the Andes in Bogota.

"Although many Colombians have their doubts about the process, they will not go so far as to reject it. They do not want it to end," she said.

One big question will be how Santos' predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, does in his quest for a Senate seat.

Uribe, a conservative, is still popular for his no-holdsbarred fight against the FARC while in power from 2002 to 2010.

Obajimi: Nigeria will struggle in Glasgow

Mercy Jacob

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nternational Association of Athletics Federation Technical Committee member, Rotimi Obajimi, has said that Nigeria will struggle at the Commonwealth Games holding in Glasgow, Scotland,

later in the year.

According to him, the likes of Blessing Okagbare and others might not win any medal for the country until the administrators learn to get it right.

Obajimi said what happened to Nigeria in the 2012 London Olympics, when her athletes came back without a medal is likely to repeat itself again, maintaining that the nation is not developing

SPORT

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

51

young talents.

“To tell you the truth, we are about embarking on another jamboree. I said it before during the Olympics, they wanted to crucify me for CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

Did you know?

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/sports

ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

Monday, march 10, 2014

That the longest tennis match took place at Wimbledon 2010 when John Isner of the United States beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 in a match that lasted 11 hours and five minutes, played over three days, June 22, 23 and 24

Keshi under fire over position on Uche Emmanuel Tobi and Charles Ogundiya

Uche

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he last may not have been heard about the blacklisting of Villarreal striker, Ikechukwu Uche, from the Super Eagles as more people continue to challenge the position of Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, on the striker.

Uche was labelled indisciplined by Keshi, who claimed that the Spainbased forward always wants to dictate the way the team would play.

Last week, Villarreal President, Fernando Roig, came to his star forward’s defence, insisting that the Super Eagles coach must be referring to another Uche and not the one who plays for his club.

“I think the coach of Nigeria is not

Keshi

CONTINUED ON PAGE 53

We are not scared of Argentina,Nigeria –Bosnia keeper }p-52

Akpoborire, Adepoju raise alarm over Eagles poor form

Obasi, Ezekiel hit target

}p-53

}p-53

52 SPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Countdown to Fifa World Cup

We are not scared of Argentina, Nigeria –Bosnia keeper

In preparation for Brazil, Stoke City and Bosnia-and-Herzegovina goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, spoke to Eight by Eight about what reaching Brazil signifies for him and his countrymen and the much anticipated opening match against Argentina.

What does reaching Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first major tournament mean to you and your international teammates?

It means everything. It’s actually something that’s difficult to put into words because there’s what it means to you as a player - to achieve that kind of success, to be playing in a major tournament, and because a World Cup in Brazil is obviously huge - but also what it means to the country. After all the years of trouble, hurt, and pain, to give some joy and something positive to cheer about is pretty big for us.

Did the World Cup draw make it all a bit more real? You face Argentina, Nigeria, and Iran— there are some huge matches in your group.

Exactly. We’re feeling a little bit more into the spirit now. It takes a while to sink in what qualifying for the World Cup meansand it’s still a bit surreal now. But it has sunk in more after the draw. We got a great group. There are some great games to look forward to, and we’re very excited to be part of it all but definitely not scared of Argentina or Nigeria.

Let’s go back to the night Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified in Lithuania. How did it feel?

It was an incredible experience. It was full of emotion, and it was such a relief too — the last couple of times, we were really close to qualifying, and to actually climb over that hurdle was so big for us. It was a relief for me too. There was so much pressure on us, because we wanted to do it for the whole country.

It was an unbelievable 24 hours. It was such a special night to achieve [qualification], and then the reception that we got back home in Sarajevo ... that’s something that I’ll never forget. But that’s kind of why I play football, to be part of those celebrations and these experiences.

it means a lot to me.

Did qualifying remind you of why you elected to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina?

It all paid off in that moment, to be honest. I never had to really justify it to myself or anybody else. I always knew I made the right decision, from the day I changed. I was born there, so it was never really something that was on my mind too much, but this experience just confirmed everything that I always hoped would happen. I’m just really glad everything worked out.

even more of my family and all my people that are back there. My family comes to visit too, so my wife and daughter have been welcomed.

It’s just an amazing country with some great people. Whatever’s happened in the past is in the past. People stick really close together, so it’s a great place to be.

Your first match of the World Cup is against Argentina,one of the favourites of the tournament.Can you discuss that matchup?

We played Argentina in November [a 2-0 Argentina win], and obviously they’re a really strong team with threats all over the pitch. We got to see what’s waiting for us in Brazil and the size of the task ahead, but it’s a challenge that we’re going to relish.

We’re looking forward to playing Argentina at the opening game at the Maracana. It doesn’t get much bigger than that. In a way, we kind of have nothing to lose — it being our first time at a major tournament — so we’ll try to use that to our advantage.

What is the reaction within your immediate and extended family to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s making the World Cup? They’re just overjoyed. They’ve been through a lot, so for it to all come together is really special for everyone in the family. It’s one of the big reasons why I switched, because playing for Bosnia means so much to everyone in my family. They can come and watch all of the games and really be part of this whole experience.

What has it been like spending more time in Bosnia since playing for the national team?

It’s been brilliant. I get to interact with

You were born in Bosnia but grew up in Germany and Canada. How were you connected to Bosnian culture as a kid?

Very little to Bosnia itself, because we moved away when I was 4, so I don’t have many memories of the country [from that age].

The thing that stuck with me is that we lived in a Bosnian way. My parents always made sure we spoke Bosnian at Begovic home, so we were really part of Bosnian culture and tradition. It was never far away from me. Growing up like that, there was nothing I would have rather done than represent my country, so

Begovic

With so much of the Premier League season left, is the World Cup at the back of your mind? Will it almost feel like a surprise when you do get there next summer?

That’s it! It feels like it should be tomorrow, but it’s still six months away.

There’s still a big job to do [at Stoke City] to make sure the club finishes the season as strongly as possible.

The World Cup is a great thing to look forward to. It gives you real positive energy, and you enjoy your day-to-day stuff even more when you have the summer to look forward to.

SPORT 53

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

Akpoborire, Adepoju raise alarm over Eagles poor

Ajibade Olusesan

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ormer Super Eagles players, Mutiu Adepoju and Jonathan Akpoborire, have said poor club form of some key members of the national team remain a concern ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Several top players including John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses have found regular playing time rare at their English Premier League. Mikel has been reduced to a bit-part player at Chelsea while Moses is yet to start a Premier League match this year. Other key players, Godfrey Oboabona and Elderson Echeijile are enduring a difficult period in Turkey and France respectively.

However, Akpoborire said it was unfortunate that those Nigerian players are finding regular playing time rare at their various clubs. He said if the situation was not well managed it could endanger the team’s chances at the mundial.

He however added that Coach Stephen Keshi might transform the situation into positive one for the team at the World Cup if the right things are done.

Osoba applauds talents at Awo Kids Cup

form

“The situation calls for concern especially that of Moses.

He is an important player in the team and we should be worried when such player is warming the bench. For Mikel, he is still seeing bit of action in Chelsea and with time he will get back.

“But we can still turn the situation in our favour, because by the time we get to the World Cup these players will still be fresh; they will not feel worn out.

Something like that worked for Greece when they won the 2004 Euro championship. Many of their players were warming bench at their clubs but they looked fresh for that tournament and won it, so we might be fortunate even with this situation too,” he said.

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Obinna Nsofor (right) battling with an Argentine player

ormer Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba,was excited to see kids displaying their talents at the final of the 1st Obafemi Awolowo U-10 Kids Cup at the Campos Mini-Stadium, Lagos Island on Thursday.

The tournament was staged to celebrate the memorial of Chief Awolowo

by Obafemi Awolowo Foundation in conjunction with National Youth Soccer Association.

The kids from Lagos Island, De Grace FC defeated their counterparts from the same neighbourhood, Greater Tomorrow, 4-3 via penalty shootout in a thrilling final. The regulation time ended 3-3 before the penalties.

Speaking about the tournament, Chief Osoba said; “This is a good competition and I’m impressed with the display by these kids.”

Keshi under fire over position on Uche Unity House wins Baptist sports meet C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 1

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he principal of Baptist Girls Academy, Mrs. Eunice Akanji, on Friday said there were plans by the old students to change the school playing field to a mini stadium.

Speaking to New Telegraph during the school 24th annual inter-house sports competition, the principal said some of the old students of the sister’s school, Baptist Academy, a boys only school, have asked the school to furnish them with what it will take to turn the school playing ground to a mini stadium to be able to nurture abundant talents in the school.

Mrs Akanji said, “The playing field does not belong to the girls’ school alone, it belongs to Baptist Academy. When they had their inter house sport, the old students came around, you know they are papas and mamas now, and they have agreed to change the field into modern shape, very soon we are going to have a mini stadium here,” she said.

“We are a growing school, as we are growing, we are growing along with our students.

Over the years, I can see there has been a lot of development in sport, better than how I met it, here we see that we have stu-

dents with prospect, they have a future in sport.”

Meanwhile, Unity (yellow) house won the 24th edition of the school annual inter-house sports.

Red (Peace) house came second while Blue (Hope) house came third.

talking about the same Uche playing in our team,” Roig said.

And speaking with New Telegraph in Lagos, on Saturday, former Nigeria international, Mutiu Adepoju, said he was surprised to hear the statement credited to Keshi as the Uche he knows is a very disciplined player.

“I can’t say whether the

Green House captain lifting up the trophy for the overall first position at the 2014 Ebenezer Montessori School Inter House sport.

coach is the one lying or otherwise. I know Uche very well, and he is very gentle, respectful, and determined to succeed as a footballer,” he said.

Speaking further the former Real Sociedad midfielder said; “I played in Spain and in fact I was still in Spain when Uche started playing in the Spanish league. He is a very humble and hardworking player, it really came to me as a rude shock when I heard the statement accredited to Keshi, but I knew him as a responsible player.”

Atlanta football gold medalist, Dosu Joseph, said he would love other coaches that have handled Uche in the past to come out and judge whether the player is what Keshi said he is.

“I will leave it for Amodu Shuaibu, Austin Eguavoen and Samson Siasia to judge, those are the coaches that has handled the guy in the past.

Since I know the guy, none of the coaches I mentioned have ever talked bad about the guy, that is where I am confused,” he said.

For Segun Agbede, a journalist and football analyst, his advice for coach Stephen Keshi is to allow the young man get back to the team.

When asked to react to the issue, Agbede said; “Ik Uche

I know is not someone that doesn’t listen to instruction or somebody that can distrupt a team or game plan. Fine, any player could be upset about siting on the bench when he believe he should be playing in a game, any player that is comfortable sitting on the bench is a useless player.

“Keshi should try and manage Uche, the truth of the matter is apart from Emenike, we don’t have any natural goal scorer in that team, that’s purely my opinion because I am not a coach but. Keshi should bring Uche back on board and take our best players to the World Cup. Tunde Disu, former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Association was blunt in his reaction to the issue.

“I want to disagree with Keshi on Uche because a good player like him who played under three previous coaches suddenly turned a bad player because of personal differences.

“He may not have had a good tournament at the Nations Cup which also happened to other players like Ahmed Musa, Brown Ideye, Fengor Ogude, Nosa Igiebor etc, but we have seen what Ik Uche has done in the past and currently doing with his team in Spain.”

54 SPORT | EURO FOOTBALL

Sanctity of Truth

Obasi, Ezekiel hit target lAs Yobo, Osaze return Ajibade Olusesan

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Obasi

ut-of-favour Super Eagles striker, Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, has continued to push for a place on the plane to the World Cup as he scored in Schalke’s 4-0 demolition of Hoffeinham on Saturday.

H e scored in the 55th minute, Schalke’s third goal in

the game and the Nigerian played for 71 minutes before he was replaced. The strike was his first of the season.

Imoh Ezekiel came off of his first international duty for Nigeria to help his Belgian side, Standard Liege, to a 2-0 win on Saturday. The player scored in the 86th minute as his side beat Mechelen 2-0. Ezekiel remains one of Nigeria’s hottest strikers in Europe as he has now racked up 10 league goals.

Eagles’ captain, Joseph Yobo, shrugged off the knock that prevented him from making his international comeback to help Norwich to a 1-1 draw with Stoke City on Saturday.

Yobo was expected to lead Nigeria out for the international friendly match with Mexico, but he suffered a knock in Norwich’s last league game. He, however, passed late fitness test to feature against Osaze

Monday, March 10, 2014

odenwingie’s Stoke.

Osaze who also made his return to the side after recovering from a hamstring injury played for 61 minutes.

Kenneth Omeruo continues his rich vein of form when he posted a man-of-the match showing in his club, Middlebrough’s 2-0 win over Ipswich Town. The Chelsea loanee played all 90 minutes.

Though Victor Anichebe was on the pitch for the entire duration of the game, he could not help his team, West Brom from falling to a 3-0 loss to visiting Manchester United.

John Mikel Obi’s days in Chelsea seem to be numbered as he was once again overlooked by Coach Jose Mourinho in their 4-0 thrashing of Totteham . Mikel has started just nine times for the Blues this term, and has not been on the starting line-up since their goalless draw with West Ham in January.

In France, Elderson Echiejile will still have to wait longer for his Ligue 1 debut as he was snubbed in Monaco’s 2-1 win over Sochaux.

Sone Aluko missed a penalty before he was hauled out in the 66 minutes as Hull City cruised to a 3-0 win over Sunderland in the FA Cup quarter final on Sunday.

‘We lacked what makes us Barca’

B

arcelona coach, Gerardo Martino, needs to find a quick fix for whatever is ailing his team or his first season in charge at the Nou Camp is likely to end without any major silverware.

Barca turned in one of their worst performances since the Argentine took over on Saturday and the shock 1-0 Primera Liga defeat at lowly Real Valladolid opened the way for Real Madrid to stretch their lead at the top.

Although, the Catalan giants dominated possession as usual, they squandered what few gen-

uine chances they managed to create against ultra-defensive opponents, with Lionel Messi and Neymar the main culprits.

There was more urgency in the Barca ranks in the second half but far too many passes went astray and Valladolid were comfortably able to hang on to their lead.

Barca were a shadow of the team that blazed a trail in Spain and Europe under Pep Guardiola and the club’s fans will be casting envious glances towards Germany where Guardiola’s new club Bayern Munich swept to another

impressive win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

“We lacked what makes us Barca,” Martino said at a news conference.

“Good elaboration in our build-up, finding spaces, breaking through on the wings and having depth,” the 51-year-old added.

“We had very few chances of actually running at goal and we almost always had to fight against 10 defenders. A good solution would have been Martino creating more space.”

Mourinho: I insist, title in City’s hands

Samuel Eto’ o celebrates by posing like an old man

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helsea boss, Jose Mourinho, insists Manchester City remain in a better position to win the Premier League than his own team.

Saturday’s 4-0 second-half demolition of Tottenham at Stamford Bridge extended Chelsea’s advantage at the summit to seven points, although both Liverpool and Arsenal have a game in

hand.

City are two points further back, but have played three games less than Mourinho’s men owing to their cup exploits and the inclement weather that saw last month’s encounter with Sunderland postponed.

Manuel Pellegrini’s team face Manchester United in a rescheduled derby at Old Trafford later this month, while new dates are yet to be set for the home clashes against Sunderland and Aston Villa.

That fixture backlog is widely viewed as a factor that could decisively swing the title race in Chelsea’s favour, but Mourinho was eager to point out that City’s fate ultimately remain in their own hands “I would like to be in that position because if they win the matches they are top of the league,” the Portuguese said.

FA Cup: Wigan stun Man City again

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A Cup holders Wigan the box and was fouled by booked a semi-final the City centre-back. date with Arsenal after Referee Anthony Taystunning Manchester City lor had no hesitation in in a 2-1 win at The Etihad. pointing to the spot - and Uwe Rosler’s visitors Gomez made no mistake bossed the early proceed- with his spot-kick, coolly ings and Jordi Gomez sending Costel Pantilimon fired a 20-yard shot high the wrong way to spark juover the crossbar as Wigan bilant celebrations among settled into the game first. the Wigan faithful.

All the statistics were on City’s side after they had won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams.

But Wigan got the goal their adventurous play had deserved on 26 minutes, when Martin Demichelis was bamboozled by a superb turn by Marc-Antoine Fortune, who powered into Yaya Toure

Stuttgart sack Schneider T

homas Schneider has been relieved of his duties as Stuttgart coach, with former Schalke and Hamburg boss Huub Stevens taking over the hot seat.

Stevens will begin work on Monday, just a week after he was relieved of his duties as coach of Greek club PAOK Salonika.

Schneider pays the price for a run of nine games without a win, including eight successive defeats up until Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Eintracht Braunschweig.

That run has left the club, who were last demoted in the Bundesliga in 1975, in serious relegation danger.

FA CUP SEMI-FINALS fixtures

Hull City Vs Sheff United Wigan Vs Arsenal

Premier league results West Brom 0 – 3 Man United Cardiff 3 – 1 Fulham C/Palace 0 – 1 S’ampton Norwich 1 – 1 Stoke Chelsea 4 – 0 Tottenham FA Cup results

Arsenal Man City Hull City Sheff Utd

4 – 1 Everton 1 – 2 Wigan 3 – 0 Sunderland 2 – 0 Charlton

Bundesliga

Hamburger 1 – 1 Frankfurt Hannover 1 – 1 Leverkusen Gladbach 1 – 2 Augsburg Schalke 4 – 0 Hoffenheim Wolfsburg 1– 6 Bayern PREMIER LEAGUE SN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

TEAM Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal Man City Tottenham Man United Everton Newcastle Southampton West Ham Aston Villa Stoke City Hull City Swansea City Norwich City Crystal Palace West Brom Cardiff City Sunderland Fulham

P

PTS

29 28 28

66 59 59

26 29

57 53

28 27

48 48

28 29 28 28 29 28 28 29 28 28 29 26

43 42 31 31 31 30 29 29 27 25 25 24

29

21

SPORT 55

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 10, 2014

No surgery for injured Leon Balogun

Sport Trending

TWITTER |@NTelegraphSport

Kanu Nwankwo I THANK GOD. I THANK YOU ALL THAT PRAY FOR ME GOD BLESS YOU ALL. @papilokanu

lMedics verdict excites Eagles debutant

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ortuna Dusseldorf and new Super Eagles right back, Leon Balogun, will after all not undergo surgery on his injured right foot, German medics ruled at the weekend.

An excited Balogun said from his German base on Sunday that when he went for a second check on his injury, he was told by doctors that the injury he sustained in the friendly against Mexico last Wednesday in Atlanta, Georgia, United States is not as serious as previously envisaged; hence there will be no need for surgery.

“They told me that the two bones broken are in the base of my foot, which will heal on their own and will not require me to undergo any surgical operation. I was also told that within six weeks, I should be in good condition and another two or four weeks for rehabilitation. Overall, I should be back kicking the ball by the time the national team returns to camp.”

Already, treatment for the 25-year-old defence ace has already commenced in Germany and the Nigerian medics are also keeping a close tab on Balogun his treatment.

“Yes, I have been in touch with Dr. Ibrahim Gyaran, team administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor and I must say I am totally overwhelmed by the show of love by Nigerians and fans across the world. I remain committed to overcome this ini- Charles Ogundiya Meanwhile, Bayelsa United and tial setback and return quickly for the World Cup Warri Wolves continued their impreparations,” he said. espite securing a1-0 away win pressive performance in the CAF He said he would keep fit while recuperating over AS Real Bamako of Mali, Confederation Cup playing a 1-1 by visiting the gym regularly. “I just hope I don’t Enyimba’s journey in the CAF draw at home against Union Dulook so muscular when I resume training, but I Champions League ended on Sat- oula. They won the first leg 3-2. will keep fit while I try to get myself ready for urday as they crashed out on away Bayelsa progressed 2-0 on aggrefuture challenges.” goal. The team got it wrong in Aba, gates against FC Kondzo of Congo. losing the first leg 2-1 at home.

United had in the first leg played Moroccan club Raja Casablanca in Congo held the Congolese side were also knocked out of the CAF to a goalless draw and ensured Champions League this weekend qualification with an outright just three months after finish- victory in the return leg played in ing runners-up in the FIFA Club Sapele on Saturday. he League Management Company’s part- World Cup. The three-time African nership with the Nigeria Security and champions defeated Guinean visiCivil Defence Corps got off to a good start tors Horoya 1-0 at Stade Mohamed in Umuahia where Abia Warriors hosted Ka- only to lose 5-4 on penalties. duna United in one of the opening games Defender Bala Zaka gave the Enyimba hope when he scored of the 2013/14 Glo Premier League season.

The ‘Red side of Abia’ as Abia Warriors are what later becomes the only goal now known won 2-0 with goals from Uluocha of the game under five minutes Chima and Bishop Onyeudo. but all efforts to get the second goal And followers of the game commended the proved abortive.

Enyimba will continue to play added security measures introduced by the LMC in conjunction with the NSCDC. in the continent but now in the Abia Warriors were having their initiation second tier of CAF competition, game in the Glo Premier League but left no the Confederation Cup. Baraje one in doubt of their intentions to retain a place in top flight league with the recruitment of seasoned campaigners such as Ogbonna Okemiri, Wasiu Sowemimo, Emmanuel Faigeria’s U-20 team, the Flying Ea- be available as they are preparing biyi, Chidozie Johnson and Onyekachi Okoye gles, are likely to train in Uyo for the National Sports Festival amongst others. ahead of their 2015 AYC qualifiers later in the year,” he added.

“The presence of the Civil Defense Corps in May, officials said on Sunday.

It was learnt that the Akwa “It is very likely we will set up Ibom State Government is close is a good development”, remarked Emeka Nwosu, a former Political desk Editor at the a training camp in Uyo, Akwa to approving the training camp defunct Daily Times newspaper. “We have Ibom State, for our qualifiers in for the six-time African champialways been worried about the security at the first week of May,” said Fly- ons.

The coaches will in the new match venues but with the presence of these ing Eagles coach, Manu Garba. chaps, I will keep coming to cheer Abia War“Calabar, where we trained week continue the open screening riors,” he added. with the Golden Eaglets, will not they embarked on from March 2.

Enyimba, Raja crash out of CAF Champions League ...Join Bayelsa, Wolves in Confederation Cup

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Civil Defence boosts Glo league

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Flying Eagles may train in Uyo N

Samuel Eto’o I am so happy to have scored the 300th goal in club of my career today. Thank you to you all for the incredible support. @setoo9 Gary Cahill Well proud of the lads today - another great result.

Always helps with unbelievable support from the fans too! Cheers!! @GaryJCahill Zlatan Ibrahimović Your days of playing it safe are nearly over. Tomorrow you will know how to Zlatan like Zlatan. @Ibra_official Blaise MATUIDI Hey @Ibra_official you teach me that move... LOL @MATUIDIBlaise Sergio Aguero How could we live without them! The best to every woman on this day, specially to Adriana, my mother, Karina, my girlfriend and my sisters. lManchester City forward, Sergio Aguero, celebrating International Women’s Day. @aguerosergiokun Mo Farah @Arsenal @m8arteta we are going to Wembley........!!!

Great day.....!! Now its time to enjoy my 7miles easy run.....!! @Mo_Farah Radamel Falcao The body has a memory, you know it’s Sunday. Although we cost much up, today we are one day closer to the target.

Happy Sunday! @ FALCAO Mikel Arteta Great game 2day,always so special playing against Everton!I get so passionate!Can’t wait 2 play in Wembley now... @m8arteta Ramires Our stadium looked beautiful again! Thanks for your support! You’re our 12th player! The title run continues!! @Rami7oficial

Obajimi: Nigeria will struggle in Glasgow

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

saying the truth and at the end, everything I said came to pass. Now, everybody is shouting Okagbare, Okagbare, the same way we did two, four years ago.

“By now, we are supposed to have developed an athlete that will challenge her and bring out her best in terms of competition but sadly, she has no rival. Are we moving forward or backward? I cannot put my money on any of these athletes.

“Even the coming of the new sports minister would not change anything, rather it would worsen it.

“We have a very bad structure and that has been affecting our performance in most of the competitions. It is true that Okagbare is doing well but when you weigh her among the top athletes coming for the competition, you will see that our chances are slim.”

World Record

On Marble “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

– Goethe

Sanctity of Truth

w w w. new tel eg rap ho nl i ne. co m

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha MONday, MARCH 10, 2014.

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ttermost caution must be taken to insulate the financial system and the economy from the dire consequences of the Sanusi saga so as not to erode the economic gains of the Nigerian economy in the past four years. If Sanusi must ‘sink’, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as an institution and the financial market should not ‘sink’ along. The financial system is the lifeblood of the economy and CBN is the arrow head and guardian institution charged with the very important responsibility of ensuring financial stability.

In the past four years (2009-2013), CBN engendered macroeconomic stability through remedial and proactive policies. In 2013 Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators rose by more than 6 per cent with a current account surplus equivalent to about 8 per cent of GDP, while debt-to-GDP ratio was less than 20 per cent. Earlier in 2012, the economy posted one of the fastest growth rates of 6.5 per cent above the global growth rate of 3.5 per cent even as IMF/World Bank projected a 7 per cent growth in 2013.

The sanctity, independence and integrity of CBN must not be sacrificed on the altar of political gyration. It may be necessary to revisit the report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) which gave a damning report on CBN. The report should be subjected to further scrutiny to ascertain its objectivity or otherwise.

Such a report should strictly be objective and not subjected to any political consideration. But what do we have? In the second bullet point of the report it was so remarked: ‘’for political reasons’’.

And one is wondering what ‘’political reasons’’ has to do with a report that should be based on cold and hard and objective facts which should encompass all necessary information material? A careful analysis reveals that the report has some blind spots which should be brought to light for necessary clarification.

One, it is pertinent to note that FRCN is under the supervision of Ministry of Trade and Investment. As such it could be subjected to a certain measure of political radiation or influence. And this is with every sense of responsibility. Two, the report failed to mention whether there was an increase or decrease in income generated by the CBN in the period under review. It failed to inform the President whether CBN was remitting more money or less into the federation account since the advent of Sanusi Lamido’s administration. Why? Available figures show that the apex bank remitted far more into the federation account under the period than in the past eras. Why should such vital material information be excluded from

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Immaculate Chioma Ajunwa became first African woman to win Olympic Gold in a field event and the shortest woman in the world to win Olympic Long Jump prize.

Protecting the financial system and economy GuestColumnist Arize Nwobu

the report? Was that a genuine error, or was it deliberate and self serving?

Three, the report failed to indicate the scope of CBN’s expenses as it did not indicate that besides CBN’s Headquarters in Abuja, the apex bank has 37 other offices across the federation.

Four, it is ironical, and curiously so that CBN which ensures that the financial reporting of banks and other financial institutions are up to scratch could not get anything right with its own financial reporting, if the FRC report is anything to go by.

These are some of the reasons it may be necessary to revisit and subject the report to further scrutiny in order to establish a proper value perception and not also misinform International investors whose confidence in the Nigerian economy has been on the rise because of their confidence on CBN’s global best practices.

The autonomy of CBN is sacrosanct and should not be violated as a result of the ongoing saga. The government is advised not to contemplate exerting pressure or micro managing CBN as doing so will spell disaster for the Nigerian economy. Central bank independence offers more credible monetary policy as there is increased transparency in the policy making policy. And ceteris paribus (all things being equal) central bank independence yields lower inflation rate. Thus, countries with independent central banks often achieve lower inflation rates because there is a negative correlation between central bank independence and lower

rates of inflation. It becomes obvious why CBN achieved a single digit inflation rate of 8.5 per cent down from a band of 10- 12 per cent, better than what the government projected.

Across the world, more countries have implemented reforms to grant Central banks greater independence from direct political control. Political interference or pressure in central banks often result to economic cycle- ‘’boom and bust’’.

And an established trend with pressured central banks is that monetary policies turn expansive before elections with associated short term gains but with long term inflationary consequences which hurt the economy.

International organizations such as IMF, World Bank and Bank of International Settlement (BIS) strongly support Central banks’ independence because of the intrinsic merit of increased independence. Independence of central banks is four dimensional, namely, legal independence which is enshrined in law, goal independence- whereby central bank are given free hands to set their goals, operational independencewhereby they autonomously determine and evolve strategies of achieving set goals, and management independencewhereby there is no interference in the hiring of the work force.

Without management independence, the other three types of independence will be unattainable. Management independence is therefore often a total no go area for governments. Legal independence offers government (EXECUTIVE and LEGISLATURE) but limited control to the extent that the executive (President) nominates the Central bank governor while the legislature ratifies it. Notwithstanding, this limited control by government is subject to further legal interpretation based on individual countries’ enabling Act. CBN’s autonomy has resulted in macroeconomic stability which has engendered planning with ease. Though not a few people have criticized the prevailing tight monetary policies but the reasons are obvious. They are as proactive as they are good for now for the Nigerian economy. The high interest rate regime is because the Nigerian economy has been noted as a high growth economy which recorded the fastest growth rate of 6.5 per cent in

2012 above the global growth rate of 3.5 per cent and projected to grow at 7 per cent in 2013. High interest rate is used as a contra-cyclical strategy in a high growth economy to avoid heating up the economy and also prevent a bubble.

CBN under Sanusi has a phobia for bubble which can be destructive to the economy. The reason for the phobia could be because he took office when the global financial market was in turmoil as a result of big bubble created by the laissez faire policy of Allan Greenspan, the ‘’Washington Resident Wizard’’ and acclaimed former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of US. Greenspan favoured super low interest rates which created easy money which led to the housing bubble which blew on the face of his successor Ben Bernnanke.

High interest rate does not support easy money. Moreover, it is dangerous to operate a low interest rate regime ahead of election time. It will turn expansive in the short run but generate long- run inflationary consequences.

And the high Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is a strategy used to avoid banks from over extending themselves so they would not have a run and develop a knock on effect on other overextended banks.

The acting Governor, Dr Sarah Alade has promised to continue with the standard.

ARIZE NWOBU, financial journalist and chartered stockbroker, is the Lead Consultant Charterstock Analytical

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