Binder1 thursday march13

Sanctity of Truth Facebook.com/newtelegraph

Thursday, March 13, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 23

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Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

Sanusi: Again, Jonathan orders probe of CBN accounts FG to privatise lRespond to charges against you, Presidency tells suspended governor airports, lJudge’s absence stalls trial Aminu, seaports, Ayodele Tunde Oyesina and roads Page } 3 Anule Emmanuel President Goodluck Jona-

than has directed the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) to re-examine the 2012 accounts of the Central

Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has continued to generate strings of controversy.

A Presidency source, who confirmed this to

New Telegraph yesterday, said the revisiting of the CBN account was to “fulfil all righteousness”, following the tumult that the reCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Sanusi

Tambuwal, Jega: N45bn not enough to conduct 2015 polls

lINEC chairman bemoans slash of N102 billion estimate Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

S

peaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal,

and the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega, yesterday painted a disturbing picture of poor funding of the

commission, arguing that it could severely impair the ability of electoral officers to deliver credible elections in 2015.

The commission had

submitted an estimated budget of N102 billion to conduct the polls but the Budget Office slashed it to N45 billion and forwarded it to the National Assem-

Lagos boat accident: Tears as 13 bodies are recovered

Page } 11

bly.

The duo said the N45 billion is not even enough to finance the procurement of electoral materials.

They spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State at a public lecture on “Challenges of Fraud-Free Elections un-

der a Democratic Dispensation” organised by the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation (MAF).

Tambuwal, who was chairman of the event, said unless something was done about the fundCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

N295b ‘wasteful’ allocations uncovered in 2014 budget

lKnocks for Finance Ministry’s N600m budget for security equipment Onwuka Nzeshi ABUJA

A

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA trying to evacuate the remains of one of the victims of the boat mishap in Festac, Lagos.

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total of 425 “inappropriate and wasteful” expenditure items valued at over N295 billion have been uncovered in the 2014 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

These i n cl u d e N220,320,334,321 allocated

AT A GLANCE

to the Presidency, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as well as service wide votes to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

It also includes the sum of N150 billion allocated to the National Assembly as statutory transfer.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

NEWS

POLITICS

SPORTS

FEATURES

North preparing for war Dokubo-Asari Page 4

Adesiyan’s appointment as minister, an elevation of evil –Muyiwa Ige Page 15

Ike Uche: Keshi, NFF on collision course Page 51

Edo: Muscle-flexing over teachers’ competence test Page 40

2

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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Jonathan approves forensic audit of NNPC accounts CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

port had generated.

Sources at the CBN also confirmed that the FRCN team had resumed at their headquarters – a development that has created an uneasy calm – especially among key officials in the accounts and finance departments.

“These results have really created serious problems for us. We can no longer do our jobs properly. These people (FRCN

team) had been here before and we do not know what they are looking for again,” said an official of the CBN in Abuja.

Suspended CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had sent to president the audited accounts of the CBN for the year ended December 31, 2012.

On April 12, the president sent the report to the FRCN for examination and advice while on May 4, the president wrote Sa-

nusi asking him to explain some of the issues raised following the report by FRCN. A response came from the CBN, which was then forwarded to the FRCN. On September 25, Sanusi wrote a letter to the president alleging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit a whooping sum of $49.8 billion to the Federation Account within a period of 19 months

between January 2012 and July 2013.

The FRCN, in its 13page report, which later leaked to the press, made far-reaching allegations of financial impropriety against the suspended CBN governor.

The Council’s report is said to have been based on Sanusi’s response to a query by President Jonathan in 2013, over the regulatory bank’s spending.

Jonathan had ordered

L-R: Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke; Minister of State for Niger Delta Development, Darious Isiaku; Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mrs. Laraba Asmau during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council Chambers, Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

the suspension of Sanusi and directed him to handover to Dr. Sarah Alade, the most senior Deputy Governor of the bank.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, while announcing the suspension of the CBN governor, said Sanusi committed acts of financial recklessness and misconduct that are inconsistent with the vision of the apex bank.

But the CBN insisted that the accounts are in order and that some of the issues raised by FRCN had earlier been asked by its external auditors and had since been corrected in its audited accounts.

It was based on this that the President ordered the FRCN to take a second look into the 2012 accounts of the CBN. Meanwhile, the Presidency has told Sanusi to respond to the charges against him instead of misinforming the public about the missing oil money.

Reacting to the claim

by Sanusi that he was suspended over his effort

Tambuwal, Jega: N45bn insufficient to conduct 2015 polls CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ing challenge, Nigeria may need to prepare for something else.

Tambuwal said: “Now the 2014 Appropriation Bill is before the National Assembly and talking about a truly independent INEC, you need to fund the electoral body to be able to carry out its all-important assignment of conducting election.

“However, what we have presented before us as the total sum required

by INEC, according to the Budget Office, is N45 billion whereas INEC itself is requesting about N63.8 billion for the proper conduct of that election. This is what INEC is seeking for to conduct a free, fair and credible election. We have before us the proposal of N45 billion instead of N63.8 billion. Therefore, there is a deficit of about N19 billion. Unless and until we are able to meet up and give INEC as a gov-

ernment what is required, then we are about preparing...don’t read my body language.”

But Jega, whose revelation about the funding was prompted by Tambuwal’s references to the issue in his speech, expressed concern that while his team at INEC submitted an estimated budget of N102 billion for consideration in the 2014 budget, the Budget Office, which first took a look at the preparation before it was presented to the National Assembly, scaled down the estimate to a mere N45 billion.

The INEC boss said the amount approved is not enough to finance the procurement of purely electoral materials and electoral activities alone outside of payment of allowances to ad hoc staff to be engaged by the commission.

He, however, expressed the hope that the National Assembly will have to bail out the commission.

His words: “On the question of the budget, I must say it is a serious challenge. What the Budget Office presented as an envelope, we had a prior discussion before that envelope was brought to the National Assembly.

“As Mr. Speaker rightly said, that budget was actually a fraction of what we need to conduct that election. If we have to keep on improving the integrity of the election, we also have to incur necessary expenditures in that process. We have to engage ad hoc staff, we have to pay them allowances, we have to transport them or give them transport allowance, we have to provide what we call lunch allowance to security agencies, we have to procure ballot papers with security details and we also have to procure result sheet in addition to ballot papers and ballot boxes and all those non-sensitive materials that are required to hold elections.

“And our requirements are far, far in excess of what is in the law. What keeps us optimistic is that in 2011, both the National Assembly and the Executive saw the need to provide appropriate funding in order to do a good election and we are hopeful that this recognition now will be made and funding requirements would be provided.

“Anytime we mention figures about how much it will cost for election, we are put on the defensive.

But since the Honourable Speaker has mentioned the figure, I am duty-bound to mention our figure. As I speak with you, when we saw the budget of N45 billion and we are asked to now provide the details of how N45 billion can be spent in our engagement with the relevant authorities, we said, “Look, N45 billion is not even sufficient for us to do necessary procurement between now and say November and to

pay salaries and other entitlements of staff because all those are parts of this N45 billion.

“The procurement for purely electoral materials and electoral activities alone outside of payment of allowances is more than N45 billion. So, how can you get N45 billion for the entire exercise? Like I said to you, when we had discussion with the Budget Office, we submitted the budget of N102 billion and yet N45 billion is what is submitted for us. We hope our engagement with government and the National Assembly will provide more funding for us to be able to do a good job.”

Tambuwal dismissed fears that the outcome of the 2015 elections will affect the continued existence of Nigeria, warning the political class that democratic mandate cannot be gained by force or coercion.

He noted that some ‘polC O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4

to unearth the missing oil money, While addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, insisted that the weighty charges of financial recklessness and gross misconduct informed his suspension.

Abati said: “We have noted with disappointment, the unrelenting attempt by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to falsely portray his recent suspension from office as an attempt by the Presidency to bury his allegation that huge sums of money due to the Federation Account are unaccounted for by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

“The Presidency wishes to reaffirm that Mallam Sanusi’s suspension has absolutely nothing to do with his unproven and inconsistent claim that $49.8 billion, $12 billion or $20 billion is missing from the national treasury.

“As was clearly stated in the letter suspending him from office and C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 5

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST PORT HARCOURT

35o 24o Partially Cloudy

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39o 24o Mostly Sunny

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37o 15o Sunny

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37o 25o Mostly Sunny

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37o 25o Partially Cloudy

CALABAR

34o 24o Storm

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39o 22o Mostly Sunny

ONITSHA

37o 25o Partially Cloudy

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

3

FG to privatise airports, seaports, roads CONCESSION

Federal Government prepares four bills on the privatisation of the transport infrastructure Anule Emmanuel

T

he Federal Government yesterday said that it

27m

has concluded plans to privatise the nation’s transport sector, including roads, airports, seaports and harbours.

In this regard, government has already initiated four bills that will be put together by a special committee to actualise the plan.

These include the Na-

The total number of IDPs (internally displaced persons) in Africa (Nov 2012).

Source: Blatantworld.com

tional Transport Commission Bill (2014); Nigeria Railway Bill (2014); Nigerian Ports and Harbour Authority Bill (2014); and the National Inland Waterways Authority Bill (2014).

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive

84,975,606

The total population of Ethiopia (Africa’s second most populous nation).

Source: Blatantworld.com

Council (FEC) meeting yesterday in Abuja said government was making the move because of the need to open up the transport sector to the public for private participation He explained that the intention was to remove the legal bottlenecks that hamper private sector participation in transport

4,406

The number of people living in Saint Helena (the least populous nation in Africa).

Source: Blatantworld.com

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema; Deputy Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar, Mr. Abdullahi Sule and Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar, Mr. Graham Clark during the company’s visit/bell ringing ceremony at NSE House, Lagos…yesterday

and provision of infrastructure.

He said: “Government cannot continue to fund all the sectors of the economy. The proper thing to do was to lead the way by deepening reforms in the transport sector and other sectors of the economy.”

Maku disclosed that FEC had already set up a Council Committee, headed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke (SAN).

The Information Minister said the committee would also include officials from Ministries of Works, Aviation, Transport and relevant stakeholders in the transport sector.

“The committee is expected to get the four draft bills ready for FEC approval after which they would be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration and passage to law.”

He said that the passage of the bills would open up lots of opportunities for Nigerians to enjoy more and better road, rail, sea and air travel infrastructure.

The minister explained

that the idea is to get the private sector into construction, maintenance and ownership of seaports, harbours and airports across the country, with possible privatisation of existing facilities.

Privatisation is expected to encourage competition, productivity and efficiency in the transport sector.

“For instance, well maintained private roads and terminals will be a big boost to easier public transportation while providing jobs for more Nigerians,” he stated.

The minister assured that in the privatisation process, the interest of Nigerians would be protected to avoid exploitation, saying that the citizens have a lot to gain in the area of job creation and business opportunities.

FEC also received a report presented by Works Minister, Mike Onolomemen, on the National Council on Works meeting held in September, last year.

He explained that the report showed that major roads across the country were being rehabilitated and expanded.

N295b ‘wasteful’ allocations uncovered in 2014 budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The discovery came in the report of a research conducted on the 2014 budget proposal by the Citizens Wealth Platform (CWP), a coalition of civil society organisations dedicated to budget and public finance management issues in Nigeria.

Citizens Wealth Platform (CWP) is a coalition of civil society organisations and professional bodies including the Centre for Social Justice, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Action Aid, Zero Corruption Coalition and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre.

According to the report, the budget is riddled with several ambiguous items and bogus allocations replicated in several places.

These funds, the report said, should be slashed by 50 per cent and the balance

saved or re-channelled to other productive sectors of the economy.

The 43-page report obtained by New Telegraph, criticised the allocation of N7.971 billion to the Presidential Air Fleet.

It said the huge expenditure has no direct link with the lives of Nigerians even though the 2014 Budget was designed to create jobs for the citizens and promote inclusive growth of the economy.

“It is unjustifiable that the budget of the Presidential Fleet is larger than the capital budget of the Nigeria Air Force. We find it objectionable that the budget to rehabilitate barracks for personnel of the Presidential Air Fleet amounting to N706 million is almost equivalent to the cost of rehabilitating Nigeria Army barracks as proposed in the budget (N774,013,730). It is also

unjust in a time like this that our President intends buying an aircraft with an initial deposit amounting to N1.52 billion. This is outrageous! We do not need a new presidential aircraft and the amount for the aircraft should be saved,” the report said.

Also under the Presidency, the sum of N907.1 million was provided for maintenance of office building/residential quarters, another sum of N1. 65 billion was allocated to the rehabilitation/repairs of office buildings, N205 million was earmarked for rehabilitation/repairs of residential buildings while another sum of N72.2 million has been allocated to some unnamed maintenance services.

But investigations have shown that N1.562 billion and N510.9 million were allocated for these same items in 2012 and 2013 re-

spectively and approved by the National Assembly.

Similarly, the Presidency has proposed to spend another N1.5 billion for the upgrade of facilities in the Presidential Villa. The same facilities were upgraded at the cost of N2.5 billion in the 2013 budget.

According to the report, some of the funds allocated for the rehabilitation of buildings were so huge, they could be used to build new structures.

Apparently disturbed by these figures, the report described these allocations as a deliberate misuse of public funds and an abuse of the appropriation process.

The report frowned at the N208 million provided for drugs and medical supplies after adequate provisions had been made in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for the personnel of the Presidency.

Similar provisions on health and drugs, welfare packages, transport and travels, office stationeries, computer software acquisition and computer consumables as well as refreshments were also replicated across the MDAs in the budget.

The report took a swipe at the Presidency for allegedly flouting the Constitution with respect to the secular nature of the country.

It took exception to the allocations made to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission in the 2014 Appropriation Bill.

These agencies were allocated N656.56m and N574.75m respectively in addition to the sum of N1.8 billion provided to each of them for pilgrimages in the service wide votes.

It argued that since the Constitution forbids the

adoption of state religion, all the funds allocated to these institutions were unconstitutional, illegal and should not be approved by the National Assembly.

The report raised questions on some of the allocations made to the Federal Character Commission, Police Service Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Code of Conduct Bureau and National Orientation Agency.

It also picked holes on 20 items in the budget of the Federal Ministry of Information. Some of these include the allocation of N56 million for the purchase of scanners; N241 million for nationwide media tour of Federal Government projects; N275.9 million for monitoring and evaluation and N50 million for the development of social media C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4

4

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

North preparing for war –Dokubo-Asari OIL Niger Delta militant threatens the North over oil Julius Toba Abuja

F

ormer militant and current leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has warned that the North is preparing for war against the rest of the country.

Dokubo-Asari, who spoke yesterday in Abuja during a press conference, predicated his claim on certain comments from prominent northerners.

He was reacting to a statement credited to Alhaji Usman Bugaje, a northerner and All Progressives Congress, (APC) chieftain on Mon-

day in Kano that the oil in the Niger Delta belongs to the North.

Bugaje had claimed at a meeting of the Northern Elders Forum in Kano on Monday that since 72% of the total land mass in the country belonged to the North and going by the United Nations (UN) law; only the North actually has the right to claim ownership in Nigeria and her oil.

“The landmass of this country, that gives that long 200 nautical miles or more into the ocean, is because of that 72% of the landmass of this country, which is the North. The investment came from the Nigerian state and the territory belongs to the Nigerian state. What they claim is the offshore oil, which is actually the oil of the North. We should stop using these terms that have

N295b ‘wasteful’ allocations uncovered in 2014 budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

platforms.

Even the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office of the Federation were not spared as the report described some of the allocations to these two bodies in charge of the budget as outrageously high and a waste of public funds.

The report urged the National Assembly to verify the security equipment which the Federal Ministry of Finance proposes to spend N600 million on since the equipment were not listed and the Ministry was not known to the law as a security agency.

In the document, Budget Office has allocated to itself N180,755,977.00 for budget preparation but the report frowned at this on the premise that budget preparation is one of the core functions of the office for which its staff are paid on a monthly basis.

Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Mr Eze Onyekpere, said budget preparation has been reduced to an annual ritual of filling up templates used in previous years with the same

requests.

“Why would MDAs continue playing with such words as ‘maintenance’, ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘repairs’ and using them as different expenditure heads to get money out of the treasury? Who needs a presidential jet in the midst of popular despair?

If the money is not stolenwho changes furniture, fittings, computers and softwares every year in his personal house from his hard-earned money?

“Creativity is lacking and available resources have not been mobilised to achieve an adequate standard of living for the people. Priorities are not based on any national planning emanating from a popular scale of preference but the individual preferences of occupants of political offices,” Onyekpere said.

Onyekpere, one of the driving forces behind the Citizens Wealth Platform, said the 2014 Budget hardly has any link with the Vision 20:2020 and the country needed to set its priorities right to ensure better utilisation of its scarce resources.

no sense at all. There are no oil-producing states,” Bugaje had declared.

Dokubo-Asari said Bugaje’s statement is a very serious and inciting

one and as such he would treat the matter with all seriousness.

According to him, “I am calling on the Igbo people, the Niger Delta

people, the Middle Belt, we must rise up to put a wall of defence and prepare ourselves for whatever they are planing, what they are planing will not

be different from what Boko Haram is doing.

The killings in Benue, Jos is part of their plan, this we must understand.”

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 5

L-R: Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi; Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; Governor Kayode Fayemi and keynote speaker, Prof. Dipo Adamolekun, during the 5th Summit of Heads of Service from the South-West in Ado-Ekiti…yesterday.

7

The number of locations that the UN currently deployed uniformed personnel for peacekeeping mission in Africa.

Source: Blatantworld.com

1,426

The total number of billionaires worldwide.

Source: Forbes.com

9

The number of billionaires who are under the age of 40 years worldwide.

Source: Forbes.com

Tambuwal, Jega: N45bn insufficient to conduct 2015 polls CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

iticians and ethnic jingoists’ are fond of overheating the polity on the eve of every general elections.

He said: “The 2015 elections are by the corner and already, there is so much talk about how the conduct of that election can make or mar not only our democracy but out unity.

Let me say here that the unity of this country does not depend on the outcome of any election. We have moved past that.

“Since 1999, it seems that every time we have an election coming, politicians and ethnic jingoists overheat the polity unnecessarily and cause a lot of tension and fear in the land. We must stop seeing everything as the end of our union.

“We must all imbibe the democratic culturethe idea is that power belongs to the people and it is their sovereign right to determine who governs them. We must learn to respect the wishes of the people, however much it goes against our personal ambitions.

“This country belongs to all of us equally and we must learn to obey the rules of democracy. Nothing is gained by threats and counter-threats, and democratic mandate is not gained by force or coercion. If the desire to win election is strictly based on our wish to take care of people’s needs and not to satisfy some selfish desires of our own, then we should allow the people to choose who they want in an atmosphere devoid of fear or rancour.

“There is no doubt that the coming elections will have critical bearing on the growth of our democracy. A fraud-free election is, therefore, a big step towards restoring the people’s confidence in the electoral process and deepening democracy. It will also give conclusive proof of our ability to face the challenges of nationbuilding.”

The Speaker noted that a fraud-free election would presuppose that the processes before, during and after the elections must be transparent, free and fair,

pointing out that such would be with the existence of a well-articulated legislation to regulate the conduct of such elections.

According to him, the electoral law must be such that no party or candidate is given an advantage over others while the financing of the parties must be such that money does not give anyone an edge over the others or inordinate media access.

But he identified INEC as the major determining factor in the success of the election, saying if the electoral umpire compromises any of the many stages of elections, then the result would be tainted and public trust lost.

The Speaker, who lamented that Nigeria has few role models, described the MAF Chairman, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, as a shining example of patriotism who must be celebrated.

Earlier in his welcome address, Akanbi had tasked INEC on the need to organise a fraud-free election in the country beginning with the elec-

tions in Osun and Ekiti states slated for June 21 and August 9 this year respectively.

Akanbi, the pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) justified the focus of the lecture on the experiences of Nigeria with elections and expressed the hope that Jega is still the same man; “as he was yesterday” to engender public confidence in the outcome of the polls.

He said: “We are all aware of the controversies that surrounded the last elections in Anambra State which compelled Jega to conduct ‘supplementary polls’. True as Jega said, there can hardly be a perfect election anywhere in the world but our clamour is that INEC should endeavour to achieve a nearperfect election which will fulfil the aspiration of the majority of Nigerians and also ensure that in future elections, there would be no repeat performance of what happened in Anambra State.”

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

5

Presidency: $20bn missing oil money not for campaign CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

confirmed by President Goodluck Jonathan in his last Presidential Media Chat, Mallam Sanusi’s suspension was wholly based on the need for him to step aside while the weighty charges of financial recklessness, gross misconduct and persistent disregard for laid down rules and regulations in the management of the Central Bank made against him by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and others are properly investigated.

“It is most unfortunate that instead of trying to provide some reasonable response to the clear and unambiguous query of his official conduct as Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi has cynically chosen to whip up public sympathy for himself and anger against the Federal Government by deliberately misleading unwary Nigerians and the international community into believing the falsehood that he is being punished for exposing corruption.”

The Presidency said he had to respond to Sanusi’s allegations because of the misinformation the suspended governor is dishing out to the public.

The Presidency noted that the suspended CBN Governor, like others who have an axe to grind with the government, are in the habit of spreading false claims and allegations through gullible foreign media correspondents, “telling them among other things that his threat to force commercial banks to open up their books to unravel the whereabouts of the “missing” funds whether $49.8 Billion, $12 Billion or $20 Billion, ultimately led to his suspension.”

“He also continues to make the mischievous claim that the government is somehow involved in a scam to divert huge sums of money from the Federation Account through the misappropriation of kerosene subsidy funds.

“Sanusi’s allegations

are patently untrue. But government is making no effort to bury them as he falsely claims. Relevant committees of the National Assembly are still investigating the claims and the suspended CBN Governor remains free to give evidence before them in support of his allegations,” Abati stated.

Also, President Jonathan has authorised the engagement of reputable international forensic experts for the complete auditing of the NNPC accounts.

The decision, Abati said, is line with government’s vision of transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s resources.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had recommended to the Senate Committee on Finance the engagement of forensic audit of NNPC accounts.

According to Abati, “In keeping with its avowed commitment to full transparency, openness and accountability in governmental affairs, the Federal Government has authorised the engagement of reputable international firms for the recommended forensic audit of NNPC accounts.

“The Presidency condemns Mallam Sanusi’s resort to playing politics with serious national issues. His suggestion that the phantom missing funds may have been diverted to fund campaigns for next year’s general elections is mischievous, irresponsible and designed to incite other political parties and members of the public against the Federal Government.

“The claim which amounts to cheap blackmail against the government and was clearly made in furtherance of a selfish personal agenda is most unbecoming of someone who still holds the high office of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

In a related development, the suit instituted

by Sanusi challenging his suspension was yesterday stalled due to the absence

of the presiding judge.

Sanusi had approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, asking it for an interlocutory order restraining President Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police from giving effect to his purported suspension from office, pending the determination of his suit.

The court, however, fixed March 19 for hearing of the suit.

Sanusi, in his suit, had prayed the court to make an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from obstructing, disturbing, stopping or preventing him, in any manner whatsoever, from performing the functions of his office as the governor of

the CBN and enjoying in full, the statutory powers and privileges attached to the office.

The plaintiff, through his counsel, Kola Awodein (SAN), had submitted that his interlocutory application was necessary because of the issues raised in the suit and that delay might cause irreparable and serious damage and mischief to him in the exercise of his statutory duties as the governor.

Ruling on the ex parte application, Justice Gabriel Kolawole held that the court has not only the judicial powers to declare the suspension unlawful but to order that the plaintiff be returned to perform his duties as the Governor of the CBN. He further held that the court can also, even

where the tenure had lapsed order the defendants to pay the plaintiffs such remunerations and allowances, “this is on the basis that the plaintiff suspension also carries with it the plaintiff ’s stoppage of remuneration and allowances.”

Going through the reliefs sought, the trial judge said he felt hesitant and constrained to grant the plaintiffs motion ex parte.

According to the judge, “it is unsafe, judicially speaking to embark on far-reaching interim orders which have all the attributes of a mandatory injunction without according the defendant a hearing.

“One other issue that the court would like to raise when defendants

have been duly served with the originating summons and motion on notice is that whether in the light of the third alteration Act number 20 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, whether the Federal High Court notwithstanding, the questions plaintiff has set down for determination in its originating summons still has the jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff suit.

The court, however, held that it will rather review the plaintiff ’s motion ex parte and direct that the motion be served on the defendants.

The court added that the plaintiff shall effect service of the originating summons on the defendants together with the motion on notice.

Special Adviser to the Kaduna State governor on Trade and Investment, Alhaji Muhammed Lere (left), exchanging Memorandum of Understanding on promotion of trade and investment with Deputy Director-General, Confederation of India Industry, Ms Supriya Banerji, in New Delhi... yesterday

‘North planning genocide against Niger Delta’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

He called on security operatives to invite him for explanations in a bid to save Nigeria from the alleged northern war plan.

Dokubo-Asari insisted that Bugaje was speaking for the entire North, which, according to him, sponsors the ravaging Boko Haram.

“The intention and implication of Bugaje’s statement is that the North is planning genocide against our people,

the same way they’re sponsoring Boko Haram. That is the import of what Bugaje has said, people might not see it and they will say Asari is an alarmist.

“He spoke the mind of the North. They are deceiving and inciting their people against our people. What Bugaje did was to incite the people.

But we are ready for them. So, he could go on inciting his people; we are ready for everything they are planning.

“What Bugaje said started when Ken SaroWiwa began the Ogoni struggle, and Bala Mohammed came out and said that the oil sedimented from the North to the South, as if the world is horizontal.

They are telling us they are hand-in-glove in this struggle to subjugate and steal what does not belong to them.”

The former militant then asked security agents to invite Bugaje for interogation over

the statement.

Noting that Bugaje was speaking for the North, he declared: “Bugaje was addressing a northern assembly, made up of the whole northern leadership, academia, business class and political elite, and before this gathering, Bugaje made such provocative and inciting comment that oil in the Niger Delta belongs to the North and his people clapped for him.”

6

NEWS

N24bn not missing from police pension fund – OkonjoIweala Abdulwahab Isa

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Gusau remains Defence Minister - Presidency NOT TRUE

Presidency says Gusau remains in office

ABUJA

Anule Emmanuel

C

T

oordinating Minister for the Economy/ and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has that the sum of N24 billion is not missing from the police pension fund contrary to media reports.

A statement by her media aide , Paul Nwabiuku quoted the Minister as saying this in her response to the Senate Joint Committee on Pensions Administration at a public hearing .

The statement quoted her as saying she ordered the account frozen to prevent fraud based on reports of suspicious transactions.

Of the amount in the account, N24 billion was discovered to be an over-estimation of pensions arrears.

he Presidency has dismissed the rumour making the rounds that the newly-appointed Minister of Defence, Lieu-

tenant General (rtd) Aliyu Gusau has resigned his appointment.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati while briefing State House correspondents yesterday at the presidential villa, Abuja said Wednesday reports by on line media alleging resignation by the Defence Minister was untrue.

He said General Gusau remains in President Goodluck Jonathan's cabinet and is still the Minister of Defence.

General Gusau is among 11 ministers who were last week sworn-in into the cabinet by President Jonathan at the presidential villa.

According to Abati, "There was a report by an online medium alleg-

ing that the Minister of Defence, Gen. Gusau, has resigned his appointment.

This is to let you know that that report is untrue. Gen. Gusau remains in office as Minister of Defence.

"He was absent from the today's FEC meeting and this particular online medium cited that in support of its allegation that he has resigned, but he was absent at the meeting

45,000 ghost workers: Finance Ministry refers case to ICPC for prosecution Abdulwahab Isa ABUJA

T L-R: Winner of grand prize of Ecobank DMC Promo, Mr. Owhofasa Akpofure Peter; Executive Director, South South/South East, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Umudia Kingsley and Regional Head, Mid-West, Ecobank Nigeria, Ajemrona Famous, during the presentation of a Honda – CRV Car to the winner in Ughelli, Delta State .

Lack of transparency promotes corruption in Nigeria – Jack Straw Chukwu David ABUJA

F

ormer British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw yesterday in Abuja said that there must be transparency in governance at all levels in order to effectively tackle the menace of corruption in Nigeria.

He also stressed that there must be incorruptible judiciary to give appropriate penalties against corrupt officials to ensure that the war against corruption in Nigeria was fought and won by government and the people alike.

Straw stated this during an interactive session with Senators of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) on how the opposition could use its voice in a democracy to bring about good gov-

with the permission of the President.

"The story is not true, he remains in office. He himself has issued a statement on it but I think this further clarification is necessary before we are confronted with a situation whereby all kinds of wild speculations begin to come up and the story begins to develop undesirable branches."

ernance.

He urged Nigeria to copy the British model by imposing stringent penalties on corrupt officials to serve as deterrent to intending corrupt officials or individual citizens.

According to him, "allowing for transparency in governance and having clean courts to handle corruption related cases in the country will go a long way in reducing corruption in the country.”

He said: “There's need to raise the penalty for corruption in Nigeria.

You have anti-corruption laws, you have great laws and you jail people on corruption, and you ensure proper transparency; then, it's safe to say that people would stop being corrupt. You've got to change the quality of your public administration.

“One of the encouraging signs about Nigeria is the fact that you have effective and viable opposition because democracy requires that there is change in the system.

In democracy, there are alternatives.

“What message can I give you about opposition? Well, first of all, you can change the weather in opposition. Although you've not got the votes, you've got the voice as you make the better use of the voice; you get public support, then you start to unnerve the government”.

He, however, challenged the opposition lawmakers to get quality manifestos, urging them not to mistake the quantity of policies for quality of policies, just as he criticized former elections in Nigeria, describing the 2011 elections as better

than others even though it did not meet international standards.

“The second thing is that you cannot just wait for the government to be unpopular; you have to fight crime, tackle health problems, deal with immigration and ensure transparency in government.

“Leadership is about character, but if you don't have the right leader, who have the right characters, the right backbone, then, it won't work. He won't have the qualities to bring out the best in people who would work with him.

“Of course, elections are fought through the prisms of leaders...don't mistake quantity of policies for quality of policies”, he added.

Some of those in attendance at the meeting were Senators Bukola Saraki,

Danjuma Goje, Ali Ndume, Abdullahi Adamu and Umaru Dahiru, who were among the 11 PDP defecting Senators, whose defection to APC is yet to be resolved on the floor of the Senate.

Speaking earlier on behalf of the opposition lawmakers, Senate minority leader, Senator George Akume said the opposition was worried about the lack of transparency in governance and corruption in high places in Nigeria.

Akume noted that Mr. Straw was visiting at a time Nigeria was witnessing unprecedented security challenges saying, "Life is now becoming poor, brutish and short and that we cannot guarantee the security of our citizens as a government.”

he Federal Ministry of Finance said it has referred the issue of 45,000 ghost workers detected on payrolls of Federal Ministries, De par tment and Agencies of government to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for further investigation, so that any identified culprits could face the full wrath of the law.

This is even as the Ministry said its action has saved government about N118 billion which has been taken off government payroll through the elimination of ghost workers.

Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Paul C Nwabuikwu made these known yesterday in a statement issued on behalf of his principal, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala in response to a recent media report, as well as enquiries regarding a recent court judgment involving the Federal Ministry of Finance, and a civil society group.

Some civil society groups had gone to court to compel the Minister to give details of appropriations and statutory transfers.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

7

Army re-imposes GSM blackout on Borno

T

A Cross-section of the Coalition of Youth Groups during a rally where they formally endorsed Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for a second term in office, held at the Arcade Ground, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta…yesterday.

Kwankwaso moves to anoint Sanusi as successor SUCCESSION Suspended CBN chief tipped as next Kano governor Muhammad Kabir Kano

S

peculations that the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is planning to anoint the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as his possible successor,

has since sent jitters to politicians angling to contest the state’s most exalted seat, come 2015.

The rumors which had since filled up the political scene of the ancient city of Kano, was said to be part of Kwankwaso’s planned pay- back to the generosity of the apex bank governor who had, over the time, spent billions of naira in upgrading the infrastructural sector of the state through the CBN intervention funds.

New Telegraph learnt that the moves, which are not yet confirmed in any quarters, has completely

Make adequate budget for disasters, nema tells states Uwakwe Abugu Awka

S

outh-East Zonal Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, Dr. Abdulahi Onimode, wants state governments in Nigeria, especially those in his zone, to henceforth make adequate budgetary provisions for disaster handling in their annual budget proposals to help the state’s agencies step up their present level of rescue operations when disasters occur.

According to him, strengthening and proper funding of State Emergency Management Agencies, (SEMAs) would go a long way in reducing pressures and over-

dependency on NEMA, a situation which has been seen as a major drawback for the agencies at the state level.

Onimode in an interview, with newsmen, reviewed activities of the agency within the zone in 2013, and it’s programme for 2014, and posited it was high time governments at all levels began to see disaster as a security issue and not mere environmental problem.

He reminded the state governments that the Federal Government alone does not have the capacity of shouldering disaster problems and challenges in Nigeria without the active collaboration of the states, saying handling the incidents when they occur is capital intensive.

changed the political arrangement of the state where many loyalists of the governor had been seeing themselves as potential successors of Governor Kwankwaso.

Although, our reporter tried to sip some information on the new development from Sanusi’s CBN inner circle, his closed allies and loyalists refused to comment. They however, confirmed to the New Telegraph, that ‘the story is indeed true’.

One of the staff of the CBN Governor who preferred his names to be covered, explained that:

“It is true that Mallam Sanusi has actually been confronted with the issue, but to my knowledge, Lamido is rather not too curious about it because he is not saying anything on the matter for now’.

He added, ‘ you know, one problem with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is that, at a time you are talking to him on something and you are even excited about it, he will simply show you that it is not his problem and he doesn’t even care about it. He is such a difficult person to understand’.

he Nigerian Army yesterday re-imposed a telephone blackout on many parts of Borno state, the base of Boko Haram Islamists who have intensified attacks that has claimed scores of lives.

“GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) services have been seized in Borno again and this is one of the sacrifices that people have to make,” army spokesman Colonel Muhammad Dole said.

“There is an ongoing operation and we want to get it right. We are hopeful GSM services would be restored soon,” he said without giving details.

Phone services were frozen last May until December in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe after the government imposed a state of emergency.

Most people woke up yesterday and found out they could no longer make calls on their mobile phones, residents said.

Dole said residents in the area had to be patient.

“In the ongoing op-

eration we have reached a stage whereby the cooperation of everybody is necessary in order to subdue the common enemy,” Dole said.

He thanked the youth vigilantes, also known as civilian JTF (Joint Task Force) for their “unprecedented support to the military” in the ongoing offensive against Islamists.

The youths provide the military with information on Boko Haram.

Some residents in Maiduguri, Borno’s state capital, said if the phone cut would restore law and order, then they backed the move. But one local, Kabiru Sani, a trader, doubted if the measure would achieve the desired goal.

“When they seized the GSM network last year, the terrorists were not perturbed, they kept killing people. GSM services were only restored when the terrorists attacked military bases in December,” he said.

Another trader, Umar Babagana, said the decision to freeze phone services was “retrogressive” and “a serious setback”.

National Conference: Eket people protest exclusion Tony Anichebe Uyo

T

he Fourth largest ethnic group in Akwa Ibom State, the Ekid Nation has protested the exclusion of its people at the upcoming National Conference, saying that it was a ploy to further marginalize them.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, the National President of the Ekid Peoples’ Union, Prof Asindi A. Asindi regretted that despite the assurance that all ethnic nationalities would be given due consideration at the conference, the reverse was the case with Ekid Ethnic nation completely sidelined.

“It is of grave concern to us that Eket representation as an ethnic

...Complain of recycled politicians nationality has deliberately and conspicuously been excluded from the list of delegates to this very important National Conference”.

“Nigeria has not less than 260 ethnic nationalities, and if this number is represented at the conference in conjunction with other groups, then it would have been a balanced conference to serve the interest of the people and posterity”, the National President of the Ekid Peoples’ Union, Prof Asindi A. Asindi stated.

According to the body, the purpose of the conference had already appeared defeated because of the numerous agitations and petitions flooding the media, noting that some of the

delegates listed for the Conference ought not to be there.

The people of the Ekid Nation expressed serious concern that some of the delegates were already being recycled in several public offices since the 60”s to the detriment of Youths with new ideas to move Nigeria forward.

“It should be noted that Ekid Nation greatly contributes to the economic growth of Nigeria as bulk of the resources sustaining the country comes from Ekid shores.

“What we have observed from the list of Akwa Ibom State delegates lends credence to the assertion of some selfish and myopic people that Akwa Ibom State rests on a tripod of

Ibibio, Anang and Oron to the detriment of other ethnic nationalities in the state.

“There is serious imbalance in the Akwa Ibom State representation at the conference.

This is an aberration that should be rejected outrightly and is very unfortunate.

“It will be terribly unfair and a glaring injustice for Ekid ethnic nationality to be excluded from this Conference. We will view this exclusion as another step to malign and oppress us.

“The Ekid nation stands by its earlier nominees sent to the conference namely Senator Etang Edet Umoyo and Professor Desmond E. Wilson.”

8

ACROSS THE NATION

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

IMO OWERRI

World Glaucoma Week: ‘Six million Nigerians living with Glaucoma’

that more than half of the people living with the ailment are unaware of their condition and could be slowly, but progressively losing their sight, because their conditions are not yet diagnosed.

While noting that Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness around the world, Madu said about 70 million people worldwide currently live with Glaucoma. He regretted that the damages done to the eyes by undiagnosed Glaucoma over a period of time cannot be restored when diagnosed.

Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA) has said that no fewer than six million Nigerians are currently living with Glaucoma.

The Imo State chapter Chairman of the group, Dr. Chima Madu, made the disclosure in Owerri, while briefing newsmen as part of activities marking the 2014 World Glaucoma Week.

According to Madu, the situation in Nigeria is made worse by the fact

ondo Akure

787 policemen get promotion in Ondo At least 750 officers and men of the Nigeria Police in Ondo State were on Wednesday decorated with their new ranks with a charge to reciprocate the gesture by being diligent in their duties.

Among beneficiaries of the new promotion exercise was the Officer-inCharge of Government House, Mr. Temitope Ojo, who was promoted from the rank of Assistant Su-

perintendent of Police (ASP) to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

Addressing the newly promoted officers and men, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Alhassan Mamuda, urged them to justify their new ranks. He saidtheyshouldseetheirnew ranks as another additional responsibility,achallengethat they should justify the confidence repose in them by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the government and the people of Nigeria.

PLATEAU JOS

N5.6bn Government House project’ll soon be ready – Jang The N5.6 billion new Government House contract awarded two years ago by the Plateau State government would soon be ready as construction work on the projecthasreached96percent completion.

State Governor, Jonah Jang, had in March 2013, awarded the contract for the construction company in Ni-

geria, the PW. Briefing a team of journalists who were with the commissioner for works, PW site engineer, Charles Jakaiye, said they have finished work on the construction of the 40m road network, drainages, car parks and walk ways.

He added that their counterparts, Jodason Global Companythatishandlingthe buildingworkarealsoputting infinishingtouchestothejob.

akwa ibom UYO

A’Ibom begins biometric verification exercise for pensioners Determined to sanitise the payroll system in state, the Akwa Ibom State government has extended the biometric capturing system in the state to pensioners who retired from its service.

The verification exercise, which is structured in phases and billed to hold at the sub-treasuries in the

31 local government areas in the state has kicked off with Local Governments that make up Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

In his reaction, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Bassey Albert, said state government is sensitive to the welfare of retired public servants in view of their contribution to the development of the state while in active service.

L-R: Majority Leader, Kwara State House of Assembly, Abdulganiyu Abdulkareem; Chairman, Ifelodun Local Government area, Babatunde Salami; Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and the Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Kayode Abdul Issa, at the inauguration of the General Hospital, Share and the flag-off of the Kwara State Community Health Insurance Scheme held at Share, Kwara State…yesterday

N11.876bn

The total import value of other soup ingredients and broths and preparation therefrom in the second quarter of 2013.

Source: National bureau of statistics

N9.25bn

The total export value of footwear not covering the ankle, of rubber or plastics in the second quarter of 2013.

Source: National bureau of statistics

Oyo Ibadan

NSCDC seizes 15,000-litre truck-load of petrol from vandals Men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State command, have intercepted and seized a truck loaded with 15,000 litres of petroleum otherwise known as Premium Motor Spirits (PMS), from some vandals in Ibadan.

According to the state NSCDC Commandant, Mr. Shem Obafaiye, the vandals, however, escaped due to the connivance of

some Fulani herdsmen, into whose ranch they fled.

The scene was Pere/ Aroje area of Ogo Oluwa, Ogbomoso Local Government area of the state around where the truck was seized at 2.00am on March 11, 2014.

According to the NSCDC boss; “The interception of the truck was as a result of our intelligence gathering method. We got information thatsomevandalswereabout to take off after loading the truck with PMS. When they saw us, they disappeared into the cattle ranch.

FCT Abuja

Court bans civil servant from operating motorcycle in FCT An Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday banned Christian Oweshi, a civil servant, from operating a motorcycle within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Oweshi, 22, from Karmo village, was tried for causing obstruction to the FCT minister’s motorcade, contrary to the Road Traffic Regulation of the territory.

The Presiding Officer, Senior Magistrate Zubairu Mohammed, also ordered the motorcycle to be registered with the

relevant authority before releasing it to him.

He said the ban still stood even after the release of the motorcycle.

Police prosecutor, Simon Emmanuel, had earlier told the court that the accused had ridden a Jincheng motorcycle without a registration number in an unauthorised area in Life Camp, Abuja.

“Oweshi rode recklessly on Life Camp Road, Abuja, on March 7, at about 8.00pm with an unregistered Jincheng motorcycle, making him to obstruct the minister's convoy,” he said.

870m

The number of people of the world that were suffering from undernourishment in 2010-2012.

Source: Worldhunger.org

IMO

Sokoto

owerri

sokoto

Imo govt adopts CGC to develop communities

Wamakko urges elected leaders to complement govt efforts

The Imo State government said it would continue to adopt the Community Government Council (CGC) approach in its efforts at developing the state.

State Commissioner for Community Government Council and Traditional Affairs, Chief Val Mbamara, stated this in Owerri at a post-election review of the councils.

Okorocha initiated the council in 2012 as the fourth-tier of government to drive even development in all the 637 autonomous communities in the state.

Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, on Tuesday urged elected representatives in the state to complement government efforts in providing basic infrastructure to the people.

Wamakko made the call at Amanawa Primary School in Dange/Shuni Local Government Area, where he inspected a block of classrooms being constructed by a member of the House of Assembly, Alhaji Buda Amanawa (APC-Dange/Shuni).

He said the gesture would ensure rapid development of the state.

FCT Abuja

NCC confirms payment of N3.63bn for 2.3GHZ spectrum licence The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confir med that Bitflux, winner of 2.3GHZ spectrum licence, has paid the N3.63 billion ($23.25 million) bid price for the licence.

NCC Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, confirmed the payment in an inter-

view with the News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said Bitflux paid for the licence on Tuesday March 12.

“NCC confirmed the payment after checking its account,” Ojobo said.

A Director at Bitflux, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, also told NAN that the company had met its financial obligations to NCC to retain ownership of the spectrum.

NEWS

Thursday, March 13, 2014

9

Terrorism: Mark tells Nigerians to resist plot to destabilize the country Chukwu David ABUJA

W

orried by the escalating spate of terrorism in the Nigeria, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark yesterday implored Nigerians to resist all attempts by terrorists to destabilize the country.

This was as the Speaker, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament, and Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, called for greater sub-regional synergy to tame the menace of insurgency in West Africa.

Mark made the appeal when he decorated promoted police officers attached to his office with their new ranks. He stressed that government could no longer tolerate a situation where insurgents and terrorists continued to hold it

and the citizens hostage.

In a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark said, "if the perpetrators of these violent crimes would not come to the negotiating table to dialogue with authorities in order to address whatever grievances they may have, government would be left with no option than to deploy its might to deal with the situation."

"No matter how disgruntled or angry they may be, they cannot continue to kill our citizens and destroy properties at will as a way of life. It is high time wise counsel prevailed among these insurgents to drop their arms and embrace peace", he stated.

"Nigeria is passing through very difficult times and challenges and certainly does not need these wars and destructions.

FG to cultivate 75,000 hectares of wheat next season - Minister

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inister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said yesterday that 75,000 hectares would be cultivated with wheat in the next farming season under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

Speaking during the 2014 Wheat Farmers, Field Day in Kadawa, Kano State, Adesina said this move became imperative to reduce the `huge' amount of foreign exchange expended on wheat importation.

According to him, Nigeria spends N635 billion on wheat importation annually, a situation he described as unacceptable since the country had all it takes to be self-sufficient in wheat production.

"Nigeria currently imports 3.5 million tonnes of wheat at N635 billion.

This is totally unacceptable. The way to stop this is through transformation of rural economies by transforming agriculture.

"If you must build a nation, you must start with agriculture," the minister said.

In his speech, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, noted that the ATA was transforming the nation's economy.

Kwankwaso, who was represented by Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, Permanent Secretary, Kano State Ministry of Agriculture, said that the ongoing agricultural transformation programme was impacting positively on employment generation.

He said there were also positive effects of the programme in the areas of foreign exchange earnings, food security and poverty reduction.

Kwankwaso commended the collaboration among agricultural institutions in the country, saying that the development was capable of driving the sector to the promised land.

The governor added that the state had developed a programme known as Kano Commercial Crop Development Initiative (KCCDI), aimed at promoting the development of commercial crops and processing them across the state.

L-R: President, Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia and Board member, Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu, during the Society’s breakfast meeting in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO:GODWIN IREKHE

Ex-aide petitions EFCC over alleged fraud in Imo Speaker’s office ALLEGATIONS Former assistant accuses boss of cover up Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

F

or mer Special Assistant to the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly on Media and later Special Duties, Mr. Samuelson Iwuoha has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged corrupt practices in the office of the Speaker, Chief

INSURANCE

500,000 rural dwellers to benefit

Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN

K

wara State Government expressed yesterday its readiness to increase the number of enrollees into its Community Health Insurance Programme from the current 80,000 to 600,000.

Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed, who gave the assurance at the flag-off of the programme in Share, Headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Area, said the projection should be accom-

Benjamin Uwajumogu.

In the petition dated February 18, 2013 and made available to New Telegraph, Iwuoha explained that as an activist and anti-corruption crusader, he had notified the Speaker of fraudulent practices in his office allegedly spearheaded by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Kaodichi Anamekwe. But rather than probe into his allegations, the Speaker issued him a query for accusing his Chief of Staff of corruption, he alleged.

The letter partly reads: “On the 7th of November 2013, I officially

informed the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Chukwuemeka Uwajumogu of the criminal and fraudulent activities in his office involving his Chief of Staff, (Mr. Kaodichi Anamekwe). I requested him to set up a four man panel to be made up of Honourable members of the House that would invite me to clarify on my allegations."

The Speaker, rather than investigate my allegations, protected his Chief of Staff and thereafter issued me with a query (36 days later) on the 13th of December

2013. I quickly responded to the query by insisting that a four-man panel be set up for me to make clarifications.”

Following this development, Iwuoha said he petitioned EFCC accusing Anamekwe of complicity in road contract scams; employment racketeering; salary scam and general supply fraud, among others.

He expressed worry over incessant calls by unknown persons with hidden numbers, threatening his life and that of his family for daring to delve into activities in the office of the Speaker.

Kwara plans to increase health scheme beneficiaries plished by 2018.

Ahmed said beneficiaries of the initiative would be poor rural dwellers, adding that government would bankroll their expected financial contribution to the scheme.

At yesterday's event, Ahmed pledged to personally pay for the first 1,000 enrollees into the scheme, while political appointees from the local government pledged to offset the cost of another 1,000 enrollees.

Another set of groups supporting the governor, also pledged to finance

800 enrollees.

The governor who used the occasion to also commission the Share General Hospital, one of the five such hospitals renovated by his administration at the cost of N4 billion, expressed satisfaction that the health insurance scheme had recorded over one million visits in designated clinics and hospitals since it commenced seven years ago.

He explained that the programme involved provision of subsidised health insurance and accessible health care

to the rural people as well as the upgrading of healthcare facilities, adding that the premium subsidy was entirely paid by the state government.

While noting that improving access to quality health services at all levels was of utmost priority in his administration's Shared Prosperity programme, the governor said the renovated hospital was equipped with modern equipment that would ensure that people access quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare.

10 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Ajudua begs court for bail on medical ground FRAUD

Accused fears he could die in detention as he was already excreting blood

Joseph Jibueze

A

n alleged fraudster, Mr. Fred Ajudua, yesterday, told Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja that he could die in detention if not released on bail. He tendered pictures of him excreting blood from his genitals to persuade the

judge to grant him bail, saying that his health condition has become critical.

Ajudua is facing trial for different fraud charges before two judges of the court. He was arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye for allegedly defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd) of $5.9 million (about N1 billion).

In the case before Justice Jose, Ajudua is accused of defrauding two Dutch businessmen of $1.69 million (about N252.8 million). He was arraigned along with Charles Orie by the Eco-

nomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 5, 2014, on four-count charges of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.

Arguing Ajudua's bail application before Justice Jose, his lawyer Chief Charles Uwensuyi' Edosomwan (SAN), said his client was suffering from a debilitating medical condition that could worsen and kill him if he remained in detention.

He said that, "we have a bail application praying the court to admit the first defendant (Ajudua) to bail on the grounds that the offences are bailable.

Besides, there is overwhelming medical evidence from experts and prison authorities showing his life-threatening health condition. And we have exhibited a picture of where the defendant was excreting blood from his genitals, with blood splattered all over him.”

He then deposed that “there is a danger of him becoming deceased if he continues to be incarcerated,” adding that the counteraffidavit (by EFCC opposing the bail application) had not rebutted the clear medical evidence provided by the prison authorities and doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital

(LUTH). "He was never arrested by the EFCC. He came back on his own. I urge my Lord to grant this application," the lawyer pleaded.

But the EFCC's lawyer, Mrs. Agnes Sanusi, said she needed time to file further reply to Ajudua's bail application, which the court granted.

The defendants were alleged to have conspired with Abiola Fawehinmi, Steven Joiner and Rasheed Adekunle (all at large), to commit the offence between July 30, 1999 and February 9, 2000.

EFCC said they defrauded the businessmen, Messrs Remy Cina and Pierre

Election: Ekiti CP reads riot Act to policemen

Senator defends need for dams in Kafin Zaki

Adesina Wahab

Sani Muh'd Sani

Ado-Ekiti

Bauchi

T

he Ekiti State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Felix Uyanna, yesterday, charged policemen in the state not to compromise their integrity during the conduct of the governorship election coming up in June this year.

He said that they must show high level of integrity during the election period which was fast approaching.

"Those that will be involved in the electoral exercise will be given guidelines on conduct of policemen during elections and any breach will not be tolerated.

Anybody asking you to compromise, tell him that you cannot and that there is a line you cannot cross,” he warned.

Speaking in AdoEkiti on Wednesday while decorating newlypromoted officers in the command, the police boss warned that anyone found wanting would be dealt with accordingly. He also charged them to be as current as much as possible on variety of issues, saying that they should know a little about everything.

"In this respect, I want you to keep abreast of events and also upgrade yourselves educationally, especially in ICT.

Vijgen of the money by claiming that it was for sundry payments to various government officials.

The anti-graft agency said the defendants claimed that thepaymentswouldhelp them facilitate a government contract worth 18 million dollars. According to the EFCC, the alleged offences contravened sections 1(a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act No.13 of 1995, as amended by Decree No. 62 of 1999.

Ajudua and Orie pleaded not guilty to the charges. Justice Jose adjourned till March 20 to hear EFCC arguments in opposition to the bail application.

T

L-R: Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Osun state Chapter, Dr. Anthony Onipede; Coordinator, Osun Movement for Peace, Comrade Temidayo Bankole, and Osun state Deputy Governor/Commissioner for Education, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, at the one-day stakeholders' symposium entitled: ‘Osun Education Policy in Perspective: Issues, Challenges and imperatives organised by Osun Movement for Peace in Osogbo…yesterday

FG to assist Ebonyi on power project Ewa Nnanna Abakaliki

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he minister of state for power, Barrister Mohammed Wakil, yesterday, assured Ebonyi state people that the Federal government (FG) would grant it adequate assistance in the full realization of its power projects.

The minister gave this assurance in his office at Abuja during a courtesy visit by Governor Martin Elechi and the technical foreign partners that are handling the power projects in the state

The minister, who described Governor Elechi as a statesman that has brought maturity and integrity to bear in the present day politics, commended him for his strong support to the transformation agenda of President GoodLuck Jonathan.

According to the minister, Governor Elechi should be regarded as a role model in leadership qualities, having copied what Mr. President had been doing at the federal level, to transform his Ebonyi state. ‘’This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that

state government embarks on getting about 2000 megawatts in power generation.

In a way, you are complementing what Mr. President is preaching that we must fix power sector, because part of the transformation agenda of Mr. President is to make sure that we have this power. And when you have fixed power you have virtually fixed everything, ’he said. The minister then called on other states of the federation to emulate what Elechi is doing in his state to assist FG to ensure steady power supply.

Elechi, in his remark,

disclosed that his state has keyed into the road map of power sector of Mr. President, by embarking on a gigantic power project that has the capacity of 2000 megawatts.

He pleaded with the ministry of power to assist the state government by providing raw materials so that the project would succeed.

He noted that the foreign partners that would manufacture the turbine had already visited Ebonyi state to do soil tasting, adding that land had already been acquired with certificate of occupancy given.

he Senator representing Bauchi North Senatorial District, Babayo Garba Gamawa, has urged the Federal Government (FG) to hasten the construction of Kafin Zaki Dam, to address the perennial flood disaster in the State.

While on a sympathy visit to the affected communities within his constituency, the Senator described the rate of flooding in the area as alarming and it's consequences devastating, passionately appealing to the FG to consider the speedy construction of the dam to end what hecalledanannual calamity.”

He said that the construction of other small dams would also go a long way in containing the volume of water flowing from rivers Kyawa in Jigawa State and that of Jama'are to most parts of Bauchi North coupled with the torrential rainfall being experienced.

Senator Gamawa who said that several farm lands and houses were destroyed, especially, in Jama'are, Zaki and Itas-Gadau Local Governments Areas (LGA), maintained that people of the area had now been thrown into untold hardship that required urgent intervention of the FG.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March13, 2014

11

Lagos boat mishap: Tears as 13 bodies are recovered MISHAP

Council chairman, residents trade blames over mishap Muritala Ayinla

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ears flowed yesterday at the scene of a boat mishap in the Festac area of Lagos as the remains of 13 victims were recovered from the canal. The dead included two children. Six of the passengers survived the accident in the incident which occurred at 4th Avenue, opposite 41 Road Junction in FESTAC Town late Tuesday.

New Telegraph gath-

ered that the incident occurred when the local wooden canoe overturned after travelling about 10 metres.

Although, there were conflicting figures of the number of passengers, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, (LASEMA) and the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, (SEHMU) said only 13 bodies were recovered while there were six survivors.

Among the survivors are Samuel Ochina, Joseph Essien, Mane Temisan, Etukor Godfrey, Davis Peter and two others whose names could not be ascertain as at press time.

Speaking with New

Telegraph General Manager of LASEMA, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who said the recovery of the victims began around 10:30 pm, said a woman who was initially rescued died on the way to the hospital.

He said: “The boat capsized at 4th Avenue, opposite 41 Road junction, FESTAC Town; those alive have been taken to LASUTH for treatment.”

Divers, police, fire service men, Navy Special Boat Service, National Inland Waterways officers, Marine Police and others who came to assist in the rescue operation had a hectic time searching in the canal.

Osanyointolu lamented that the passengers were not putting on life jackets as at the time the tragedy occurred.

“We have always appealed to those using the boat to always put on life jackets. Our people need to be safety-conscious. Those using ferry should have life buoy. When the incident occurred, we immediately activated our emergency response system … for the rescue operation.”

Also speaking with New Telegraph, the National Emergency Management Agency (NAMA), spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, refuted the claim that more passengers were still missing. Ac-

cording to him, "we have to be empirical about rescue operation. How can we say more victims are still missing when there is no relatives confirming that?

There is also no manifest to know the exact number of passengers on board.

Meanwhile, we have stationed our men to continue the recovery operation for any missing passengers, but all I can say now is that six survivors have been taken to the hospital."

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government, Ayodele Adewale, blamed the operators of the local canoe for the incident, saying they have allowed their illegal business to claim lives.

He said he had on several occasions warned them to stop the business but that they refused to heed his warning.

Adewale said 100 metres away from the scene of the disaster, there is a 2km bridge that the people could have taken to get to the jetty where they could be ferried across to 4th Avenue.

"We even used Neighbourhood Watch officers to try to dissuade them from operating in the area, but they continued, he added.”

He assured that the council would take a more drastic step to ensure that no local boat operator operates illegally in the area anymore.

I’ll better Fayemi's best, says Opeyemi Bamidele Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

A L-R: President, South-East, South-South Professionals of Nigeria, Emaka Ugwu-Oju; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha; Chairman, South-East Caucus, House of Representatives, Ogbuefi Ozongbachi and Chairman, South-South Caucus, House of Representatives, Warman Weri Ogoriba, during the South-South, South-East Professionals' visit to the Deputy Speaker at the National Assembly in Abuja… yesterday

Court orders arrest of DCP over release of suspects Cajetan Mmuta Benin

A

n Edo High Court sitting in Benin, the state capital, yesterday has ordered the immediate arrest of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Mr. Joshua Ibine, for allegedly releasing accused Persons on bail while the motion for their bail was still pending before the court.

Justice J. Oyomire gave the order to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police was al-

leged to have flouted the order of the court to produce the accused persons in court when the matter came up for hearing yesterday.

Among the accused persons are Osas Osawe, Peter Aruyinmwen,Stephen Osabuohien, Godwin Igbinijesu, ogbegie Michael, Osaigbovo Ehigiamusoe, Joseph Igbinijesu and others now at large.

They were alleged to have conspired among themselves to commit felony to demolish buildings of the traditional ruler of Evboewedo (Enogie Osarenogowu Onaghise) and other houses through rioting on 19th November,

2012.

The suspects, before their illegal release from detention, were facing an18-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony punishable under section 516 A of the Criminal Code Act Cap C38 of the Laws of the Federation 2004 as applicable in Edo State.

The judge gave the order after hearing counsel for the prosecution.

According to the court; “In view of the refusal, failure and/or neglect of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State Criminal Investigation Department, Benin City, who released the accused persons on bail

while their bail pending trial filed by the learned defense counsel – J. O. Emiator-- is still pending and yet to be argued in this court to produce the accused persons in court as ordered on 7/2/2014, it is ordered and I hereby order the Commissioner of Police, Edo State to arrest the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State Investigation Department.”

Justice Oyomire ordered that upon arrest, the Deputy Commissioner of Police should be brought to his court to explain to his satisfaction why contempt proceedings should not be brought against him.

governorship aspirant in the Ekiti State chapter of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has said that the State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has done his best in the governance of the state, but that he (Bamidele) will surely do better than that if voted into office.

Speaking in Iyin-Ekiti when he played host to the Consular-General of the United States in Nigeria, Mr. Jeff Hawkins, Bamidele said he had the

pedigree to perform better than the incumbent.

Bamidele, surrounded

by LP chieftains, told the American delegation that his campaign for the June 21 election would be based on issues.

"We are going to campaign based on issues not on mundane things. That is why we do not refer to them when articulating our positions on issues.

"We are peace-loving people in a disciplined party. I have the pedigree to perform better. I don't blame them for their lack-lustre performance; they cannot give what they don't have."

Herdsmen allege attacks on Fulani, blame Suswam Dan Atori Minna

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he National Vice President of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Hussaini Yusuf Bosso, has accused Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam of being behind their woes in the state.

According to him, an alleged pronouncement by the state governor that he did not want see Fulani herdsmen in the state, has led to the mas-

sacre of the their members in three states.

"All these atrocities were perpetrated by Tiv people. To our surprise, the police are aware but did not do anything to avert the ugly development. Not only the police are adamant over the matter, the respective governments of the affected states too.”

Suswam's convoy came under attack on Tuesday from some gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen while on a tour.

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I need money to grow my business –Robbery suspect DIVERSION

Robbery suspects speak on how they diverted goods worth millions of naira Taiwo Jimoh

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he Special Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) in Lagos yesterday paraded 23 suspects arrested in connection with robbery.

The police also recovered 10 vehicles from the suspects arrested in both Lagos and Ogun states.

The suspects include members of a four- man gang specialising in diversion of goods.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, Mr Chris Ezike, who paraded the suspects at the Adeniji Adele office of FSARS, said a Mack truck with registration no XT 737 SMK loaded with generating plants was diverted by the driver of the company to a warehouse in Ibafo area on Lagos - Ibadan Expressway.

The driver was said to have conspired with his gang members to divert the goods and the truck.

But the empty container and the truck were later recovered at an abandoned place on the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway.

Ezike, however, said a complaint from the owner of the goods led to the tracking down of the driver at his hideout.

He said: “During interrogation, the driver confessed to have connived with others to divert the goods which also led to the arrest of other members of the syndicate.”

Ezike added that a total of 1,501 out of the 1,530 of the generating sets were also recovered from the suspects.

Police n

Juliana Francis

A

P

security an runsho At the upsur crimes on negle by successive a in the country.

Atta condem where governme preventive acti violent crimes, ing for solution a

Some of the suspects

Abba Mustapha, the truck driver, told the NT Metro that one Muta, still at large, promised to pay him handsomely if he could assist him in the diversion of the goods.

He said: “When I finished loading at Apapa, the truck was supposed to head to Alaba International Market were the dealers was expecting the goods, but when Muta came to me and promised me good money I decided do his bidding.

“I wanted to use the money to grow my small business in the North, but as it is now I don’t know what my fate would be. I pray Allah to forgive me

Police arrest 13 touts at embassies olice yesterday arrested 13 suspected touts in front of some embassies at Walter Carrington Street on Victoria Island in Lagos.

The state Police Commissioner, Umar Manko, who confirmed the arrest, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspects were arrested during a raid.

Manko said the suspects constituted nuisance in front of embassies in the area, adding that the raid would continue to check illegal activities in the area.

A

kwa Ibom S sioner of Gwadabe, stated the comm command to m crime-free.

Gwadabe gave while inaugurati trative block wi Divisional Police Eket.

The commiss police were work to reduce crime i He said: “On pledge that we ar good use of the b crime and equa ficult for crimina state.”

The building by the Sen. Helen senting Eket Sen

An embassy worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 27 people were arrested by policemen attached to the Bar Beach Police Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Fayoade Adegoke.

The embassy worker said that after the screening of the suspects, 13 people who could not identify themselves with genuine identity cards were arrested.

He said: “A number of touts, agents and vendors continue to harass visa ap-

even if I am going to die.”

The security guard of the warehouse, Ibrahim Aga, said the gang members they gave him N5,000 and also promised to reward him.

He said: “They came to me that the vehicle conveying the goods could not move as expected and they needed a warehouse where they could keep the goods till when the truck would be fixed.

“That was why I collected the money from them and allowed the goods to be off loaded into the warehouse.”

However, Ezike said the suspects would soon be charged to court.

plicants daily in front of our embassy building.

“The property along the road we use for parking lot had been blocked by touts loitering around.

“We learnt that some of the touts were collecting illegal fees from motorists that parked indiscriminately in front of the embassy.

“After the raid, the place seems to be free from touts for now as some of the persons arrested had been charged to court.’’

Traders count fire razes Ipon DISASTER

Fire breaks out twice within two weeks at Iponri Shopping Complex Muritala Ayinla

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raders at the Iponri Shopping Complex located within Abibatu Mongaji Market in Lagos have cried out over the loss of goods worth millions of naira.

This followed the fire which razed part of the complex on Tuesday night.

About 17 shops were affected by the inferno.

One of the affected traders, Mrs Monsurat Alabi, a widow, said all her goods

were burnt in the inferno.

She said: “I received the alert of the fire about 12am.

At that time, I couldn’t come to the scene.

“Where do I start from now? Where I live now, my landlord on Monday handed me a quit notice.

And on Tuesday, my shop was razed.”

Another trader, Mrs. Mary Ulo, who deals in kitchen and corporate goods, said she lost goods worth millions of naira.

She said: “It will be the grace for me to recover the loss. I lost goods worth over N2 million. And the loss would have reduced if the state government officials had allowed us to gain entrance to the market.”

Adesiyan’s appointment, an elevation of evil –BOLA Ige’s son / PAGE 15

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Bayelsa govt not funding my campaign –Olubolade

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THURSday, March 13, 2014

Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, an engineer by profession, is the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. When DOMINIC ADEWOLE met him in Asaba, he did not only reveal the secret of what made him tick in the House, he also cleared the air on the allegation of N27 billion fraud rocking the oil-rich state’s Independent Power Plant in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area.

Ochei: Me, stole N27bn IPP money? Never

Mr. Speaker, how has it been as the number three man in Delta State?

First, I am grateful to God, it’s been peaceful, interesting, and a learning field. Most importantly, it has also been a place where you develop friendship and cordiality and the experience is a wonderful one.

What is the secret of being the longest serving Delta Speaker?

The first thing I consider most important in keeping your seat as a Speaker is to be transparent.

Transparency has done a lot to my being there because transparency is the product of integrity.

Once the integrity is there and you have nothing to hide, whatever comes is open, your dealing with the people will be open. You have no reason whatsoever to bother how people are feeling because you tell them the truth and they can also relate with what you are telling them as the truth. The moment that is done, you are like 50 per cent done.

The other thing is don’t get greedy or too selfish, considering your interest over and above your colleagues. Don’t forget you are just the first among your equals. In five minutes they can throw you overboard. But as long as their interest becomes your own primary interest, they will always give you their support at all times and that is very key. Then of course you have the other task of building confidence in your colleagues, the moment your colleagues can trust you, then be rest assured

Ochei

that it will be well for you. That can only come when you are by your actions and by your dealings, you have instilled confidence in them that they respect and trust you that whatever you say, you can keep to it and whatever you tell them they can verify that is the truth. Then be rest assured that they would al-

ways be there for you because you earn their confidence.

So, that is the key thing that I have seen that is most important.

The other thing that I know that is most important is that God’s grace will keep you safe because it is not by your power. God can allow anything to happen to you. God also keeps you, he di-

rects your part at all times and wisdom will be your watch word.

How do you respond to the speculation that the House is a conglomeration of rubber stamp lawmakers?

Is it because of the cordiality, the relationship between the ex-

CROSSFIRE Each of the 16 governors that voted for Governor Jang have benefited from N2 billion each from our own money, given to them free of charge. All of us from Ameachi’s side were given nothing; that is not being fair, and it is illegal -Rabiu Kwankwaso

Kwankwaso should tell Nigerians if I gave him money to nominate me. That grand deceit of nominating me and doing something else is the foundation of the division. He should tell Nigerians how and when the N2 billion was paid -Jonah Jang

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

POLITICAL NOTES

Manifesto battle royale

N

o sooner than the All Progressives Congress (APC) unfolded its manifesto than brickbats began to fly back and forth. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) saw nothing good in it, using all sorts of derogatory words to describe the document. And true to character, the APC devotees fell in line defending their proposed policy statement.

That is the level to which politics in Nigeria has been reduced to. One side makes promises, whether such promises are feasible or not is out of the point. The other side tears it apart, without offering any positive or constructive criticism, based on ideologies or principles.

One party proposes or implements policies; the other party condemns it, without proffering any alternative or superior argument to prove it has a higher intellectual capacity that the opposition it is criticising.

Come to think of it, what is the ideological difference between political parties in the country? What major conspicuous programme or guiding principle can be associated to any political party in the country? Are those who say they are two sides of the same coin totally wrong?

A close look at the manifesto of the PDP would probably reveal similar promises made by the APC. In states where party A rules, party B cries to the high heavens on what it considers the ineptitude of party A, and vice versa.

It only goes to show that political parties in Nigeria need to develop distinct guiding philosophies and creeds that would set them apart from others, that can be easily ascribed to them, rather than the current trend of ‘form it as you go.’

14

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Bayelsa govt not funding my campaign –Olubolade Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (Rtd) is one of the aspirants eyeing the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State ahead of the June 21 gubernatorial election.

Olubolade, who is the immediate past Minister of Police Affairs, told LATEEF IBRAHIM and ONWUKA NZESHI in this interview why he prefers a consensus arrangement in picking the PDP flag bearer, state of governance in Ekiti and why he is best suited for the governorship. Excerpts: Why do you believe so much in the consensus option in picking the PDP candidate in Ekiti State for the election?

I believe in consensus because any organisation or political party that wants to make progress must listen to the voice of reasoning from the leadership of such party. Once the leadership of the party brings an issue on the way forward, as a good party man, it would be nice for you to work in that line so that all things will work for the good of the party. Having heard from the President on the way forward, I will strictly want to abide by that position and do exactly what will move our party forward. What is important is for us to ensure that internal democracy prevails within the party. When the PDP reveals its position on the way forward, we also have to key into that position. So, that will bring orderliness in the party.

Followers will know what to do and we will, in togetherness, work to ensure that the party is victorious. That is why I believe in consensus.

Do you still think that the consensus option will work now that about 15 aspirants have picked forms?

Picking form is just an indication of interest, but it is not the end of the game.

If you want to enter a secondary school, you will go and pick up a form. After that, you still have to be examined, you have to be interviewed and when you are through, you are successful. That does not mean that you have to set an examination for yourself. Whatever the party decides to do, you have to abide by it, that’s why you are in the party. You cannot impose your wish on the party. You cannot. As aspirants, we have picked up forms, that is the first step.

Other stages will continue to evolve. It has to be continuously modified to suit what will bring unity to the party and to also ensure that we win the election. Whatever arrangement, whatever process comes into play, will have to be followed by all party men who truly love the party and who are also disciplined members of the party. In every system, discipline is key. I will never do anything against the party’s wish. I will never even take my party to court on any matter, no matter my ambition. So, if the same applies to all members, and contestants, we wouldn’t have any problem.

Your party is contesting against the All Progressives Congress (APC) that is in power.

Are you confident that PDP has the capacity to unseat APC in the governorship election?

Yes, I am. I am confidence of that. You

Olubolade

know that Ekiti is a PDP State, nobody can dispute that. We had been in power for two terms, but they (APC) came into power through the court. Now, Nigerians have seen it that the court is nice to resolve issues, but the court cannot become the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In my view, the PDP has quality people who can make a difference in the life of the state. The characters that will feature in this election, the pedigree, the ability and the capability of the individual that will be featuring, the experience, the exposure that such a candidate has will bring about victory for the party. Talking about myself as an individual, I have had the privilege to have governed a state and I want to say that I did my best and I left my footprints in the sand of time in Bayelsa State when I had the privilege of going into governance. That was where I had the experience.

More than 15 years after now, I have been schooled in the Federal Cabinet under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan. I have seen what he has been doing and I have learnt quite a lot now.

The experience is quite different now, I have seen what transformation agenda is all about as well as what investment can do for a state, how resources can be utilized to get the best for the people and how we can build a team that can truly transform the state. What I see happening around, particularly in Ekiti State now, is

We have not done any fund raising for now. So, that claim is not true. But I know, like I used to say, that the fact that I made a little impact in Bayelsa State will attract goodwill to me. That one cannot be ruled out just rhetoric, lectures, visitations, promises, most of which are never fulfilled.

This will change as soon as I emerge as the governor of the state. It will change because I will bring experience into bear.

Development is not an issue because I had developed a state before. I developed a state that its terrain was water logged, difficult terrain. So, what is there in Ekiti State that cannot be developed? It is cheaper to develop Ekiti State than what I did in Bayelsa State that cost a lot of money. Even with the little resources that we had then, we put structures in place that are still being used up till today and that gives me confidence that as far as developing a state in concerned, I have the skills and I can work with other persons of like minds within the state.

I can see that with good leadership, a lot can be achieved. With prudence, so

much can be achieved. With transparency and the love you have for your state, capital flight would be minimized. And with what I have seen that the President is doing, I will import that into the state and make a quick turnaround and will have a synergy and work closely with the Federal Government to truly transform this state that has been so deprived over the years, particularly in the recent time with the promises they made. What is even most amazing is for a state that depends mainly on agriculture, which limits our allocation to the barest minimum to be taking loans that you cannot pay back within your tenure.

That must be stopped because it will not help the state. What is of utmost importance now is to be forward looking. Look at agriculture, look at education, look at industrialisation and don’t promise what you cannot do. Bring out something good, create employment within your tenure and the other tenure will speak for itself. Give opportunities to other people to come in and also display their potential and see how they can take it up from there. So, what is ideal is for you to set a good standard, let there be continuity after you have left to take the state to the next level. I don’t believe that anybody has been so schooled and has been so privileged in that state today better than my very self. I have seen it all, be it during the earlier time I had opportunity to govern, or now, having schooled under President Jonathan and having seen the way he conducts meetings in Council, the way he looks for quality to improve his cabinet, that is how I will go into it. And, I will then link up with the federal, because I know the route now and then link up with the relevant ministries that will lead us to the relevant areas where development is lacking in the state. This era of dancing around and making rhetoric and lecturing must be stopped. They are not helpful to the state and its people.

Is it true that Bayelsa State government is helping to fund your campaign activities in respect of the forthcoming election?

We have not started any serious funding. We have not done any fund raising for now. So, that claim is not true. But I know, like I used to say, that the fact that I made a little impact in Bayelsa State will attract goodwill to me. That one cannot be ruled out. Where it will come from, whether it is the government people, whether it is the civil servants, whether it is the private businessmen in the state, I don’t know. What I do know is that it is where you worked that people can appreciate you and help you in any ambition you wish to pursue. Even if am not contesting for governorship, if am looking for business and I go to Bayelsa, I will be favoured. So, if I’m contesting an election and I announce in the Yenagoa market and say come o, I want to go and contest, and I put a basket down, they will put something inside. So, that’s an indication that when you have an opportunity to work, work for the people and wait patiently for the reward, it will come someday. So, if people are making that insinuation, it is only as they perceive it, I cannot say anything because it is what you sowed that you will reap.

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 15

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Adesiyan’s appointment, an elevation of evil –Ige’s son Muyiwa Ige is the Osun State Commissioner for Land, Physical Planning and Urban Development. In this interview with AYODELE OJO, he speaks on the appointment of Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, who was a prime suspect in the murder of his father and former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, as Minister of Police Affairs. Excerpts: How do you see your involvement in politics?

We are all political animals but I see myself first and foremost as a professional. By the grace of God, I am a registered architect; I have been tried and tested. I have a broad experience and I have had a couple of stints in quasi-governmental agencies being project architect and others. So, there is a vast knowledge base. I feel very privileged to be part of governance because it is not everyone that has the opportunity to be part of governance.

However, the best part of it is when you implement government policies, the resultant effect and how it affects lives for the better.

The participatory aspect of governance which we are implementing is quite special and the style of governance that is being deployed in Osun State is government unusual and not for the weak at heart. We are very focused and resolute. We have a very final timeframe to deliver for the collective good and so we are in a hurry to get things done. I am so excited to be a part of this movement for change and the revolution that is focused and targeted at emancipating the common man.

Your dad’s involvement in politics was principally responsible for his untimely death.

Are you not nursing any fear?

He has always been involved in politics. He was a student politician at age 15.

He was the national publicity secretary of the Action Group at 32. We are political animals. You can’t shy away from politics; it is how you play it. We play politics with a bit of intelligence, showing people that the black man has a lot to offer. So, it is uncommon what we are doing.

My father was assassinated and it will be 13 years this December. There is nothing to be fearful of. Would those that killed my father not die as well? We all owe death. I am not governed by fear.

They should be fearful because they have an albatross around their necks.

Some of the prime suspects in the Bola Ige’s murder like Iyiola Omisore became a Senator and he has declared for governorship of the state. Another suspect, Alhaji Jelil Adesiyan, has been appointed as Minister of Police Affairs. What is your take on the development?

It is elevation of evil. I don’t feel any way because I don’t expend my energy on what I am not in control of. I am not in control of the president selecting those he feels he wants to work with; I am

not in control of the judiciary and the police. It was a case of the state against the suspect and it was the machinery of government that was used to throw the case away. The only thing I believe is that God is in absolute control. As long as we are all breathing, their conscience will continue to prick them, if they have any.

That is why the various shenanigans going on would not continue for too long.

When the truth starts to come out, we will be amazed; at the appropriate time we would all learn the truth.

It has never happened before in the history of any true democracy all over the world where three senators representing three senatorial districts in a state would say no; that this person nominated is not qualified and responsible enough to represent a state in a position within the Federal Executive Council. That is the issue; it has nothing to do whether he killed Bola Ige or not.

Some of the suspects in Bole Ige’s murder have taken you and others to court asking for N20 billion compensation. What is really happening?

You know there is something called delusion of grandeur when you believe that since you have a shade of government behind you, you can actually turn the truth upside down. I learnt that Oyo State, the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police have been dragged before the court. We will see how the case goes.

Bola Ige was assaulted on December 15, 2001 and the admission of the assault is in the document. The people that know better would address the issue.

It is so funny that the person who was appointed as a minister even said that I am speaking for my father because of what I have gained by being a commis-

It will never be our portion that a prime suspect in a trial to become a governor. Yes, they rout him in as senator from Agodi prison, which was unfortunate, but that was the period of do-or-die politics. That will never be our portion, the prayers over it are much

Ige

7 Questions

sioner. Remember what my father said when Chief Sunday Afolabi said they invited him to come and chop, he said ‘no, we are here to govern.’ Governance is not about self-aggrandisement, which is what they missed. How do you (Adesiyan) say that I am benefiting from my father’s death. This is somebody that claims that he is one of my father’s boys and that he saved him. If you look at the records, there were some elements of deportation because I never knew that my father assisted in rehabilitating him. We should find out why he needs rehabilitation. I remembered him when I represented my father in Philadelphia at Egbe Omo Yoruba and the guy just came to me and hugged me that I spoke very well on behalf of my father. Baba Adesanya was there that evening. He called my father that Muyiwa did well representing you.

It was when we got to Nigeria that I found that he lives a few doors away from my father. Let him explain it, how you gloat over the demise of your benefactor. How do you celebrate the demise of the person that you benefitted from? There are some probing questions.

It is like Adesiyan’s appointment as Minister of Police Affairs has exonerated him?

Has it? Is that how to exonerate someone? You see, the Nigerian psyche is being totally pauperised and brutalised. At what point have we elevated ourselves that because someone got an appointment he has been exonerated. No. If he has been exonerated we still have issues to discuss. A life has been lost. So, how did Bola Ige die? Even if you say that ju-

diciary threw out the case, but Bola Ige was killed. So, no justice has been done.

How do you see the governorship ambition of Omisore?

I think the good people of Osun State know better. Good will always prevail over evil. It is a law of karma if you get certain things hanging over your head, certain things will not just come to you.

You can’t recreate the world and that is unfortunate for people like that, that is the way it is. A lot of the people are also praying that nothing shall ever overturn that, and that governance for the collective good shall be for the collective good, and not for people hoping to get power to clampdown on the resources of the state and take the state back. By the grace of God, it will never be our portion that a prime suspect in a trial to become a governor. Yes, they rout him in as senator from Agodi prison, which was unfortunate, but that was the period of do-or-die politics. That will never be our portion, the prayers over it are much.

The National Conference is about taking off.

Do you support the initiative?

The train is already out of the station.

Whether you oppose it or not, they are pushing it through. If it is a charade or not, we would find out soon. In terms of representation, the various ethnic nationalities are supposed to be duly represented.

Some nominees have not been selected. It’s all teleguided. The representation of the traditional rulers is not all encompassing.

They will expense some funds; the typical Nigerian way. Nothing will come out of it. We don’t want to be disappointed but there is nothing we can do about it, those in charge of it have the reins of power and they would wield it any way.

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POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

What is your view on the controversy trailing the ongoing defection of lawmakers in the National Assembly?

It is not about my personal views; it is about what the constitution says as distinct from what is the living law - the difference between the law in the books and the law in practice. The Constitution in Section 68 is clear that: “a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives loses his seat being a person whose election was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that house was elected provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

So, in essence, the law says if there is no division in your party, if there is no problem in your party and there is no merger, you are not entitled to move.

If you move, you lose your seat. That is clearly the position of the law.

But it is also a matter of fact if what has happened in the PDP in the last couple of months is a division or not. It is a question of fact.

Do you mean a question of fact or matter of controversy?

It is a question of fact which we have not had any clear legal interpretation whether it amounted to a division or not or whether there were factions. But clearly, you could see that there were some members of the party who were opposed to what appeared to be the mainstream of the party. Some of them eventually left and some of them are still around and are still being wooed back to the party. The fact that even the new National Chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu is now busy trying to bring back some of these members shows that there is a crisis and a division.

The defection has become a problematic issue because people are leaving the ruling party to the opposition party.

In the past we’ve had a number of legislators move from the opposition to the ruling party and they were welcomed with open arms without anybody raising any eyebrow. Why is it suddenly becoming an issue? Is it because the ruling party is losing? This is why I am saying that there is a distinction between the law in the books which is virtually dead and the law that is activated on the streets and used by the people on a day to day basis.

I don’t see any reason why the ruling party should be crying. Let the things they have done in the past go round the other arm. This is my point of view.

Basically, the constitution is clear but there has been no legal interpretation whether what happened in the PDP between August and September last year amounted to a crisis, division or factionalisation, but I tend to see it in that light.

Don’t you think the opposition has itself to blame for not going to court when it experienced defections of its members to the ruling party?

Thursday, March 13, 2014

to vacate their seats. They would always go on appeal.

So, you mean we are in for a long journey?

Yes! It is a long journey. I am also saying that there is nothing the PDP can do unless these people do not know what to do. When would you finish the High Court case? You will compile the case and proceed to the Court of Appeal.

Maybe the Court of Appeal will not go on vacation because of you. If you finish there and you move to the Supreme Court, you expect that the apex court will abandon all other cases because of your own. So, PDP is in a no-win situation.

Onyekpere

Defections: PDP having dose of own medicine –Onyekpere The recent defection of legislators across the political divide in the National Assembly has pitched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the All Progressives Congress (APC). They are now at daggers drawn as each party believes it is right on the part of the law.

In this interview, lawyer, public policy analyst and Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, gives a legal perspective to the defection saga. He spoke with ONWUKA NZESHI on this and other issues in the polity.

Well, if it was their right to go to court and they were not sure they were going to get justice because of the kind of judiciary that we have, do you blame them?

Of course, given the kind of judiciary that we have, you can decide not to go to court. You can also decide to approach the courts but it all depends on whether you believe in the system and you are convinced you are going to get justice.

You can even see what’s been happening in all the cases that have been dragging

We’ve had a number of legislators move from the opposition to the ruling party and they were welcomed with open arms without anybody raising any eyebrow. Why is it suddenly becoming an issue? Is it because the ruling party is losing?

on in the courts. Is it every party that has the resources to hire Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to do their cases?

The PDP can go to court to seek legal interpretation of the law because it is not in its powers to declare anybody’s seat vacant.

They can go to court but they may get a good dose of their medicine. They have before now and early 2015 to fight it out. You can be sure that the case will never leave the High Court; if it leaves the High Court, it must get to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. It is bullshit! They are losing and there is absolutely nothing they can do. They are just getting a dose of their medicine. You can be sure that there is no way this case of whether somebody should vacate his seat will finish in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court before Jega conducts the elections in 2015.

There are in a no-win position. That’s the law as an ass; the fallacy of thinking that you have a legal right to exercise.

But tell me how you can exercise it this time because until you get the Supreme Court to rule on it, you can’t ask them

Where can one draw the line between politics and morality in this game of defection?

You cannot be talking about morality in the midst of sharks in the ocean. What kind of morality are you talking about?

This is just an intra-elite squabble; a struggle among the political elite as to who should go into government to manage the resources and steal the most out of it. It is not a struggle based on any ideology; it is not based on any philosophy; it is not based on any disagreement; it is just a naked lust for power that is playing out. If you are simply complaining about lack of morality in the actions of our politicians, what do the political parties actually stand for? What does PDP stand for and what does APC stand for? They are both complaining that their members are leaving for each other’s camps. Five PDP governors left for the APC because they could not have their way; Shekarau and Bafarawa have left the APC for PDP simply because they were not allowed to control the APC in their states. So, this is all about naked lust for power. In reality, there is absolutely nothing to choose from between them. So, it is not a question of Archangel Michael mobilising the forces of God against Saint Lucifer.

These are all people who have contributed in no small measure to the economic, political, environmental, social and moral depravity that is prevalent in Nigeria.

There is nothing noble about what they are doing; absolutely nothing noble.

What does this trend of political prostitution portend for the polity in 2015?

When the push comes to the shove, the interest of APC and PDP leaders is the same. So, based on that, the buck stops on the desk of the Nigerian people to take a decision about their own future. Nigerians need to mobilise themselves either as civil society, organised labour as well as people in the mosques and churches to decide exactly what they want. It is not about what PDP or APC says because whoever that is waiting for these politicians to move us forward is living in a fool’s paradise.

Show me any state that is governed

by APC that is doing fantastically well or show me any state governed by PDP that is doing so well. Before the crisis in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi was said to be doing well. Was he doing it because he was in APC or was he doing it because he was in PDP? If you are a good guy you will do well depending on your exposure, disposition and morality. Here, it is not necessarily the party you belong.

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 17

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Why I sponsored Anti-Gay Bill –Obende Senator (Dr.) Domingo Obende represents Edo North Senatorial District in the National Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he speaks on why he sponsored the Anti-Gay Marriage Bill that was passed into law, the insurgency in the North, and 2015 elections. CAJETAN MMUTA reports How do you feel about your endorsement for re-election?

I feel that what they have demonstrated is to show that one, there is the interest of the people at heart; second, the essence of voting for anybody is for the person to perform. And with my scorecard before everyone, they feel they can trust me. I feel very happy that the Etsako people turned out in their numbers.

What makes you think you have done enough to merit a second term?

In 2011, when we were campaigning, I did mention that there is no foundation and if there was no foundation, then there can’t be anything that can be likened to a benchmark. In other words, I have been able to lay a foundation; I have been able to make the office of the Senate very relevant because if I were irrelevant, it obviously means that the office would have been irrelevant.

I am doing the best to bring services to the people. We have had eight years of unhindered representation coming from Victor Oyofo and we have also had four years of unhindered representation coming from Senator Yisa Braimah. I want to quickly add here that Braimah was given the ticket for a second tenure, and another political party feeling indifferent about that fielded another candidate in me, and of course we defeated him. So, if somebody in his own fallacy would want to imagine that what I have done is less than 30 per cent, at least he should show us somebody that did more than that before I got there.

There are reports that you are on the verge of defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party. How true is this?

I am a very focused person, not just being focused, I know the meaning of shame because as a human being coming from a royal home, I should know what is called royalty. I want to say again that on February12, 2010, I resigned from PDP having rose to the rank of a senatorial chairman and I joined the Action Congress of Nigeri (ACN). I was never kicked out.

So, the issue of defection is not in the dictionary of Domingo. It is not in my character, and it will never be in my character because every political stand anybody takes has a local stand because there must be a local reference of your action. So for me, APC is the party where I belong right now and that is where I registered and I participated in and I want to belong to APC. Your critics feel you have altered a rotational arrangement in the zone. Why? I was never in any meeting neither was there any meeting organised by the leadership of the party, the former

don’t think they are missing it at all; they are right.

As far as I am concerned, the Federal Government needs to buckle up in the sense that every soul lost, whether in the west, east, north or south, that soul is a Nigerian and of course that represents a whole family and so the Federal Government needs to buckle up; it needs to understand that if America can go to war because of one human being, then of course Nigeria should be able to go to war because of more than 10,000. As we speak, more than 10,000 people must have gone in the insurgency.

Obende

ACN now APC whereby there was an arrangement. I was never there and if there was, I don’t think the arrangement has shifted because from day one, the party (ACN) said AkokoEdo should have the Senate seat and Akoko-Edo got the seat and I have not even done three years. My relevance in bringing to bare the quality of the Senate is making everybody to crave for the seat and that will not scuttle whatever arrangement anybody believes that he or she has. It requires patience, four additional years is not 400 years. So, I believe that if we are patient, this thing will go round.

You sponsored the same-sex prohibition bill which was passed into law. What informed this position which has attracted global attention?

First, I see myself as an African that has a culture. Second, I try to uphold the value that is attached to that culture. Now, the anti-gay bill is to protect the menace of importation of morals into Africa. You will agree with me

that the social media today as we speak has imported so much into this country and has made our youths to lose focus and derail either from their family values, culture or from their cultural values as it affects their communities.

So, I believe that this anti-gay law is a way to strengthen our morals. We do not want importation of morals; what we want of course is transfer of technology for our people to be relevant in the industrial world.

Do you think the Federal Government is doing enough to address the Boko Haram insurgency in the North? The National Assembly even felt that the Defence Headquarters should relocate to the troubled area?

Even in simple economics, where the raw material is, is where you move the industry to. So, in line with the insurgency, it becomes the raw material for the military to act so people saying and insisting that the base of the Chief of Army Staff and others should be moved to the North-East, I

The anti-gay bill is to protect the menace of importation of morals into Africa... I believe that this anti-gay law is a way to strengthen our morals

What is the Senate doing to support INEC for a credible election in 2015?

For me, in all elections that the INEC has conducted so far, they will always tell you that all arrangements are in place and that they are going to have a very perfect and fine election or outing as you will call it. But at the end of the day, you will always see those challenges steering them in the face.

The INEC has never admitted that they have a challenge, if they admit that they have one, then they must tell us what these challenges are. Because if it is a human challenge, it is easy, do more of orientation; if it is financial, it is also simple, request for more funds to be able to tackle the election that you have at hand.

But as far as I am concerned, I don’t see INEC conducting a general election that will be free and fair. If Anambra election went the way it went, how do we know what is going to happen in Ekiti and Osun states? Let me remind you very quickly in Edo State that but for the sagacity of the governor, his re-election in 2012 would have been messed up. So, I am of the view that INEC needs to tell us what their problems are and it is only when the problems are placed on the table that the National Assembly will be able to discuss it and find a solution to them. We cannot do anything about it when we don’t know what their problems are.

There are fears of division in the APC in Edo ahead of 2015 and 2016; are you worried about this development?

For me, I do not see any problem in APC in Edo State. As we speak, the structure has not been put in place; what we are doing is registering for membership that will make us founding members of APC. I don’t know if there are grievances anywhere and if there are, I am yet to be told, but as far as I am concerned in Edo North, I think all is well. The agitation you find in Edo North are agitations of those who want to go to House of Representatives, of those who want to go to House of Assembly and those who want to go to the Senate.

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POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Zoning promotes laziness, mediocrity –Delta Speaker CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

ecutive that is why they are being perceived not to be doing their work? Yea! Of course, it is expected that when they see the legislature and the executive working in harmony, people begin to get worried because what they are expecting is that they should be at war; that if a war is raging of course the legislature is working.

For us, we have our challenges with the executive arm of government. It is just like the tongue and the teeth; we have always been biting and fighting but we live together. The truth is that in Delta State we have devised a means of resolving our issues, whenever challenges comes which we must deal with or iron out with the executive we will go to a round table and sit with the executive and discuss those issues. It is always a give and take situation.

So, when the public see we can resolve our issues easily without having recourse to fighting, they think our job is a rubber stamp. But then what bill has come to the House and left the way it came? None! So, what else and how would you describe a rubber stamp? A rubber stamp is when you bring in a bill and we stamp it the way it is and send back to you. That is not the case. There is no perfect bill and there is no perfect law but when they come we have to do our work and do it well.

Some of your critics say you are arrogant. Do you see yourself as such?

I don’t know what they call arrogance or what people say. I hear it too like you hear it. Honestly, it makes me laugh. I don’t know what is expected of me, maybe when I am walking along the street I will greet everybody I see; I wouldn’t know if that is humility. But I think all they call arrogance is body language, maybe my carriage also makes people feel that way. I have a big body structure. So, I only laugh when people associate me with it.

Would you describe an attempt on your life in Obomkpa as politically motivated?

It is not political. I don’t want to look at it from the realms of politics. What is most important to me is that God exposed the devices of the enemy; that their hand could not perform their enterprise. All I need to do is to give God all the glory. You don’t bother whether it is political or not political as long as their hands cannot perform their.

Each time your name features in the governorship race, the first thing they use against you is the N27 billion Delta’s IPP project.

What is the issue?

If they want to use the issue of the IPP against me, then you know they are going political. Once anybody says it, the first question you should ask the person is: Have you been to the site? If you have been to the site, and it was bush and there was nothing happening there, you can say, ‘Yes! Probably, money was given to me and I embezzled the money and I have become fatter than I used to be. That could be it.

But if you go to the site and you see work done and people are still working, then you assess yourself if what you are saying is

Ochei

true or you are just blabbing. It is not everything you have to bother yourself because people will have to say things about you; as a public figure they must talk about you.

As somebody they are looking at likely to contest for a public office they would talk about you and if they don’t find ways to naturally get at you, they would criticise you with whatever they find and whether they have been there or not they would say a whole lot of things.

It is not everything you have to bother about. So, I expect it to keep coming just like you are asking now again many years after, as if because the idea is oh! money was stolen but IPP is not like going to procure generator and installing it.

It has a whole lot of things that goes with it. If that were to be the case; we won’t be talking of power problems in Nigeria; we would have long solved it but it takes time. So, don’t worry about talking,it is all part of the game.

Chief Edwin Clark hinged his campaign against your ambition on this same allegation. Did you misappropriate this IPP money?

That is an allegation made and until proven to be right, I am not guilty. I respect our father, Papa Clark a lot. It was the information that was available to him at the time he made the statement, but that is not what it is today. The IPP project is ongoing. It was awarded to a company I used to have interest in, Davnotch Nigeria Limited; I have since divested my interest many years ago and I would not be the appropriate person to answer the state of the project at the moment. I can say, it will look funny, I am sure if you talk to the MD or the chairman of the company they should have what is on the state of the project, but what I do know is that before I left the company, the project had advanced to an appreciable level where equipment have arrived. So, I am very optimistic that it has gone very far and is doing very well. So, I have no doubt in my mind, things are going on very well.

The issue of zoning as it relates to the 2015 governorship election is generating crisis such that the PDP state chairman, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, engaged in exchange of words.

Do you believe in zoning?

First, you must always respect opinion expressed by anybody. For me as a person, ordinarily zoning should not be an issue because if you are looking for an office, what the constitution prescribes is that there are certain qualifications you must satisfy. And what makes it interesting, I believe in competition because it brings out the best and once you are competing, people tend to put in more efforts but when you talk about zoning, it has ways of promoting laziness and mediocrity. But that is not to say that if in a particular environment, we see the need to allow for rotation, I don’t call it zoning but rather rotation so that everybody can be part of it.

If you go to Switzerland, power is rotated among the Germans, the Dutch and the French. They know when it is their turn

If they want to use the issue of the IPP against me, then you know they are going political. Once anybody says it, the first question you should ask the person is: Have you been to the site? If you have been to the site, and it was bush and there was nothing happening there, you can say, ‘Yes! Probably, money was given to me and I embezzled the money

to produce. If that is allowed to come into our own system to pacify or give everybody a sense of belonging, it is fine not because power must shift from one place to the other. I don’t subscribe to that.

I always maintain that the best man for the job would be the man who will take Delta to the next level. The man who will ensure that ethnicity is not our basis for our everyday drive. The man who will ensure that at the end of the day there is peace in Delta State and there is massive development in the state. The man who will ensure that an initiative started by the present governor, Delta Beyond Oil, which I believe is the best thing that can happen to this state, will begin to look at this state beyond our oil where we can use our oil money to develop non-oil resources and make money from it and we can remain self sustainable for as long as time permits. These are things we need to look at, we shouldn’t be looking at the man coming from the west or the east, because that is not important. Once you have the best man for the job, you don’t remember where the man is from because the man will ensure there is equitable distribution of projects, ensure that there is a plan to improve on what you have and do it well.

So, these are sentiments that we bring in and we use them to destroy ourselves much more than we should promote ourselves. We should begin to look at the diversity we have in Delta State as our strength; we must develop those diversities to be our source of strength and the moment we can achieve that I can tell you that Delta State would go beyond the skies I believe so much in that and not about zoning or whatever you call it.

Most importantly is to ensure that you have the right man for the job.

How do you see godfatherism in the body polity?

I believe the biggest godfather anybody has is God almighty and so there is no need for all of those. What would the godfather do, would he tell everybody to vote for you and if they don’t, what would happen? Politics is dynamic; things are changing fast from what they were yesterday to what it is today. So, you will naturally see a trend of things of yesterday no longer holding water today.

With several political parties in the system, how is PDP fairing in Delta State?

With due respect to other parties in Delta, there is no other party in the state.

What I mean here is that there is no other party in power. What do they control? All elective offices in the state are controlled by the PDP. In the House of Assembly, the majority is overwhelming. So, I don’t think there is any party that would pose a threat to PDP in Delta State, and to that extent, I safely say there is no other party in Delta but the PDP. So, what are we expecting in 2015?

2015 is an election year and by the grace of God I am consulting my political associates across the state. By the time my consultations are done, I will be categorical on my next political aspiration.

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EDITORIAL

Sanctity of Truth

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

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

THURSday, MARCH 13, 2014

Making NYSC a more meaningful scheme

wo days ago, the 2014 Batch ‘A’ Orientation Course of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) began across the country. The unfortunate antecedents in our national history gave impetus to the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps by decree No.24 of 22nd May 1973 which stated that the “NYSC is being established with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity”.

The present national realities have made the scheme more imperative.

National reconciliation and integration are continuous efforts and process which the agency has been spearheading. Through the NYSC, Nigerian youths are brought together, posted from one part of the country to the other and given the opportunities to offer voluntary and selfless services.

At the take- off, a total of 2,364 youths drawn from the existing six universities were mobilized, trained and deployed to different parts of the country other than their states of indigene. In the past 41 years, it has consistently impacted positively on our socio-economic development mainly in the area of patriotism and gallant sacrifice by the youths towards the development of the country.

The scheme was reviewed in 1993 hence, the National Youth Service

Corps Decree No.24 was repealed and replaced by Decree 51 of June 16, 1993.The decree recommended that, the equitable distribution of members of the service corps and the effective utilization of their skills in area of national needs; that as far as possible, youths are assigned to jobs in states other than their states of origin; that such group of youths assigned to work together is as representative of Nigeria as far as possible; that the Nigerian youths are exposed to the modes of living of the people in different parts of Nigeria; that the Nigerian youths are encouraged to eschew religious intolerance by accommodating religious differences; that members of the service corps are encouraged to seek at the end of their one year national service, career employment all over Nigeria, thus promoting the free movement of labour; and finally, that employers are induced partly through their experience with members of the service corps to employ more readily and on a permanent basis, qualified Nigerians, irrespective of their states of origin.

The scheme’s laudable objectives are currently undermined by various issues including the seemingly intractable insecurity situation in the country, especially in many parts of northern Nigeria, and the uncertainty of even securing a job outside one’s zone after the service year, Corps members are now endangered

species, prone to greater dangers like violent deaths through bomb blasts, mob attacks or gunmen’s onslaught and gang rape (for the female ones).

During the April 2011 post-election violence, about 11 corps members were reportedly killed.

In the same vein, not only do graduates works their ways to places of primary assignment, most of the corps members prefer urban centres to rural areas, in fact, corps members do not even serve at all but still collect their NYSC certificates. It is instructive to note that corps members are still posted to violent prone areas, and those posted to these areas are children of the less privileged in the society. This is coupled with unwholesome practices such as delegating classified official responsibilities to corps members, non-residence in the communities where corps member’s workplaces are located, thereby leading to irregular attendance and poor supervision.

It is indeed ironic that, while the scope and responsibilities of NYSC have grown tremendously since its inception, its allocation as a percentage of federal and state budgets has drastically gone down.

The states have been particularly guilty in this regard, as many of them choose to see the NYSC as a federal initiative which the federal government must fully fund. The underutilization and non-utilization of Corps members in their primary duty stations has been a perennial

problem. In many establishments, corps members are reduced to glorified clerks and office assistants, untrusted with the real duties for which they have been posted and therefore unable to contribute meaning fully to national development.

Therefore, NYSC should be restructured, to purge it of corrupt practices in all ramifications, corps members should not be posted to violent prone areas under any guise and they should not be used as INEC ad hoc staff for elections given the nationwide volatility at such times. Also, postings should not be influenced or changed to suit some people, not matter how highly placed. Corps members should well catered for and made a memorable period of all corps members. Again, instead of just posting corps members to their places of national assignments, NYSC should liaise with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to train graduate in various vocational and entrepreneurial skills and after completing their training NYSC can group them and help them get loans from Bank of Industry and other Micro Finance Banks to set up Small Scale Businesses, thereby becoming employers of labour instead of looking endlessly for non-existent jobs.

NYSC is still very relevant and should be continued but periodically reviewed to meet the challenges of the present epoch.

BOLAJI TUNJI Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief IKE ABONYI Deputy Managing Director/DEIC 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

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

OPINION Obasanjo’s unspoken prophecy Nduka Uzuakpundu

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he story of democratic system of government in Nigeria, since the Second Republic has, in part, to do with the role of the military. It is true – and sadly so – that 1976, as promised by the Gowon regime turned out, whichever way you look at it, to be unrealistic, it was the Muritala / Obasanjo regime that transited the country to its second experiment with a democratic rule: the Second Republic. Nigeria was almost close to yet another civil rule – the Third Republic – when the Babangida regime cancelled the presidential poll, which the late media tycoon and standard-bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief M.K.O. Abiola, was widely believed to have won.

And it took another six years of an unusually tense political situation and rapidly declining economic fortunes, up to 1999, for Nigeria’s eighth stratocracy, headed by self-effacing General Abdulsalami Abubakar to hand power over to a democratically-elected government led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Was it an accident of Nigeria’s stubbornly, chequered political history or a calculated design by some faceless actors that as it was with the Shonekan interim regime, so was it that it was the same honest quest for a durable, people oriented democracy - the Hausa-Fulani-led stratocracy that made Obasanjo’s unprophesied second-coming realistic? The year 1999, as promised by the Abdulsalami regime to usher in civil rule, was made realistic in part, by the morally justified clamour within and in some European capitals for democracy now! No more stratocracy. It was such that even in death, Abiola was still mighty, with Ate fighting his cause.

Is that still the case? Nigeria is said to have spent or misused about N370 billion between 1987 and 1998, in her tortuous transition from stratocracy to civil rule.Yes, it’s true that no

Obasanjo wrote his famous letter to underscore his displeasure with President Goodluck Jonathan’s disposition to corruption one elected the Buharis, Babangidas and Abachas into office, but the leaders of a democratic Nigeria ought, in following the examples of Argentina, Chile, South Korea and Mexico, to call its ex-military despots to give an account of their stewardship. Presently, Nigeria’s Fourth Republic is faced with severe crises that might make 2015 election unrealistic: if it’s not the Boko Haram insurgency, it’s the culture of gargantuan graft by elected public officers and their allies, for which Nigeria’s foremost letter writer, ex-president Obasanjo feels, amongst Nigeria’s restless youth, the on- going crisis within African largest and most puissant political party – the PDP – falling standard of living etc. These diverse and tugging extreme, are not helping the cause of the stability of Nigeria’s democratic dispensation, It is ominous and instructive that Obasanjo, in his eminent position as Nigeria foremost letter-writer, has launched an attack against corruption under the Jonathon administration. It is almost certain that Obasanjo wrote his famous letter to underscore his displeasure with President Goodluck Jonathan’s disposition to corruption. And that presupposes that Obasanjo in his eminent position as Nigeria’s foremost scrivener wanted to make a point that he has a stake in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Indeed. Was it not for political justiceanddemocracythathegladlywenton an over-pampered sabbatical at the presidential villa in Yola! It’s no less true that Obasanjo’s reaction was to remind Jonathan – just in

case he never knew it – that corruption was – and still is – threatening the survival of democracy. Obasanjo, the famous letter-writer, may have tore into Jonathan – even if rudely – to register his love for democracy, as opposed to his active distaste for stratocracy, Remember that he was the one that handed power, voluntarily, over to a democratically-elected administration in 1979. Recall that it was the famous Ota farmer (alias Baba Iyabo) who, in his displeasure with the crippling effects of stratocracy called for a regime with a beautiful human face blessed with some milk of human kindness. Recall, again, that it was Obasanjo – the same Obasanjo who, in a fit of tantrum, called a highly visible priest an idiot – in order to save the Fourth Republic from the ugly jaws of graft set up the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFFC). It was a lot honourable, Obasanjo may have felt, to confront Jonathan – someone whose pleasurable trip to the presidency conspiratorial reprehensible silence. Suppose Obasanjo’s recent foray into Nigeria’s stinking political terrain was more of an indirect warning that 2015 will not be realistic. That too much inexplicable harm has been done to the Nigerian Democracy – as if to prepare the country for yet another binge of notoriously retrogressive and brutish stratocracy.

After so much sacrifice – bloodshed, political assassination, Abiola’s death etc between 1993 and 1999 – what obtains today, is not the democracy that the Obasanjos, Tinubus, Agbakobas, Soyinkas et al, to be true, fought for. How does one explain Nigeria’s current rudderless drift – as though our leaders have no sense of history?

It’s perhaps, time that Nigeria’s Fourth Republic would have been a lot more forward-looking than it presently is.

Kogi: Look inward before it is too late (3) Oyigu Onuche-Ojo Elijah

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hile the memory of 16,000 people jostling for the 500 job vacancies was gradually fading away, it was also reported in January this year (2014), when the state Internal Revenue Service Commission wanted to employ people to fill 60 vacant positions; 10, 000 people applied for the job. This however, shows that unemployment is a parlous foe fighting the future of the people and the youth of the state.

Those that connived to perpetuate such heinous act should have been made to face the full wrath of the law as a way of riding the state of corrupt practices as well as restoring moral values to the civil service since there was no justification for the act. While there was no record of fraudulent act with the later, it is my candid opinion that job creation through the industrialization of the state which will ameliorate or alleviate the industrial misnomer confronting the state should be the state’s most priority if the budget of reality will truly see the light of reality.

Your Excellency sir, I am aware of the federal government’s preparedness to look into the exploitation of solid mineral resources, a move which was revealed

in January 2013, but sometimes, we are also aware that the beauty of such preparations do end in the media than we see in the real life; otherwise, can the federal government of Nigeria tell us what it has done to revamp Ajokuta steel company which experts have seen as a haven of job creation? It is high time we make the move into the exploitation of our mineral resources. Despite the protracted dispute over the ownership of the oil wells between our state and Anambra state which we have not known the outcome of the intervention of the Federal Boundary Commission about the true ownership of the oil well; it is however hoped that, the true picture of the ownership of those oil wells will be known in a jiffy to avoid robbing Peter to pay Paul. Nevertheless, Anambra state government should be well commended for taking the bold step of investing billions of Naira into such projects which should also be emulated by other state government on the need to selfindustrialize their states. It is also good that we look into our resources and invest in the exploitation of our natural resources as a panacea to the parasitic economy with which we operate. The coal at Okaba in Ankpa LGA could electrify Nigeria for 400 years while the limestone at Obajana could supply cement to Nigerians and

even beyond the country, according to the field report conducted by the Federal Ministry of Mine and Steel development in 2008 which was made available to the members of the public in 2009. The same report also revealed that, there is presence of not less than two mineral deposits in each local Government Area of the state.

It is high time we use what we have to get what we need.

Mr. Governor, Sir, I do not need to belabor the obvious. However, Historians are in ravenous expectation to book your name in the golden books of history as a Governor that could take a proactive measure to develop and industrialize the state through the exploitation of state’s owned mineral resources. I’m aware of the fact that most of the challenges confronting the state predate your administration but I’m also convinced that effective leadership is aimed at either alleviating or totally obviating the hardship of the people that the leader leads through strategic and realizable policies regardless of the age of such hardship. When people talk about Prince Abubakar Audu today, the first thing that comes to mind is Kogi State University. When the next generations of Kogites talk about you, let your administration be synonymous with the exploitation of our mineral resources and

the industrialization of the state.

Mr. Governor Sir, I understand that your administration and perhaps your predecessors must have embarked on some programmes which are/were tailored towards alleviating poverty. While I applaud you and your predecessors for such gigantic efforts, we have however, noticed that most of those poverty alleviation programmes do have infinitesimal effects compared to the result that the industrialization of the state will yield.

There are countries in other continents of the world that do not have the number and the quality of the mineral deposits that we have in Kogi state yet some of those countries are found on the radar of economical prosperity. This justifies the fact that, it is only a producing land that is a progressing land. It is hoped that the promise you made through the deputy Governor on Nov. 28, 2013, when you hosted the Federal Government Committee on Solid Minerals Post Mortem Committee should be faithfully kept. It could be recalled that, while welcoming the members of the said Committee, you expressed your readiness to pay priority attention to the development of the state’s owned solid minerals. prophoyigu@yahoo.com

LAW THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014

NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/law

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY EDITOR

foluso.ogunmodede@newtelegraphonline.com bunfolchester@yahoo.com

CORRUPT JUDGES NOT IMMUNE TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION - AJIBOLA

21

}p-26 & 27

Lawyers to Jonathan: Tackle Nigeria's security challenge

Lawyers at the NEC meeting

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LTHOUGH their gathering in AdoEkiti, was to discuss their affairs and welfare , lawyers in the country, took time out of their first National Executive Council(NEC) meeting in the year, to discuss the nation’s security challenge.

However ,they lamented the level of insecurity in the country and concluded that the carnage must stop as nothing could be more 'dangerous and blood chilling than a systemic attack on innocent school children',saying 'Nigeria has never been so threatened by security challenges as it is today' .

They called on President Goodluck Jonathan to review his strategy with a view to confronting the Boko Haram insurgents headlong.

To them, since Mr. President’s efforts had not yielded positive results in the past years, considering trillions of money voted to tackle the menace of Boko Haram insurgency, it was time the security agencies and the government reviewed their strategy.

Their president, Mr .Okey Wali, a Se-

WORRIED by what they described as ‘the worst tragedies’ plaguing Nigeria, lawyers at the weekend , gathered in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital to brainstorm on a way out of the nation’s security challenge. Judiciary Editor, FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE, was there. nior Advocate of Nigeria, tasked Nigerians to rise up against the insurgents, tackle them headlong, saying all must rally round the government with a view to getting rid of the ‘callous criminals’.

Beside , Wali and his colleagues, took a swipe at the centenary celeberation, querying its motive as the nation had nothing to show for its political and socio-economic structure after 100 years of existence.

“It is significant that after 100 years of existence, Nigeria does not have a home grown peoples Constitution with a strong

political structure', they said.

Specifically , they decried the callous manner in which the dreaded islamic fundamentalists massacred school children in Yobe, describing it as not only bizarre but a 'country of unshockability to loss of human life. This is a big shame', which must stop by force should the unity of the country must be preserved.

“We must not allow them to succeed”, they said.

They went on: “For if we did, it is from the same young men and women whom they would have stopped from going to

It is significant that after 100 years of existence, Nigeria does not have a home grown peoples Constitution with a strong political structure

school that they will recruit their members tomorrow.

“While we appreciate the efforts of security agencies and Government’s efforts in containing the activities of these callous criminals, we call on the federal Government to go back to the drawing board and review the strategy of the fight against terror.

“Clearly, the current strategy is not working optimally. This situation calls for new strategy and plans. And since the sanctity of life means nothing to the blood thirsty terrorists, no effort should be spared in tracking them down and bringing an end to their madness. This carnage must stop.

“The high level of insecurity in Nigeria of today is alarming. Innocent, law abiding citizens can no longer travel safe on our roads due to insurgency, kidnapCONTINUED ON PAGE22

22 LAW

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Tackle Nigeria's security challenge, lawyers tell Jonathan CO NT INU ED F R O M PAGE21

ping, and armed robbery. Social activities and interactions have reduced to the lowest level, for fear of bomb explosions.

Even when we want to sleep, we can no longer sleep with our two eyes closed.

This is the situation in which we have found ourselves.

“Human life no longer has meaning in our country. Every blessed day, we are inundated by news of uncountable deaths and loss of human lives and property. We have slipped into a country of unshockability to loss of human life. This is a big shame.

“Over two weeks ago, the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, released a chilling video that could easily pass as the manifesto of the violent group.

“In this clip, he threatened not only some political leaders, but also innocent school children in furtherance of a misguided belief that western education is evil. If there were any doubts that he meant business, such doubts were dismissed in a most bestial manner.

“About a week ago, there was an invasion of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in Yobe state, where no fewer than 50 students were murdered in cold blood, burnt and butchered alive with scores of others seriously wounded. We had promptly issued a public statement condemning this dastardly acts of gruesome murder. Nothing can be more cruel.

“It is even more worrisome that there seems to be an emerging pattern to this growing madness targeted at schools in Yobe and Borno States. According to Action Aid of Nigeria, an anti-poverty and development international NGO, in the past eight months, over 100 students, have been killed in different attacks on schools in those states where more than 200 schools have been destroyed. It is estimated that majority of school pupils in the two states have stopped attending classes altogether with all the attendant implications for the future of our country.

“The new offensive by Boko Haram is a challenge not only to our corporate existence but indeed to the future of our country and the authorities must see it as such. Perhaps, apart from the 30-month internecine civil war, Nigeria has never been so threatened by security challeng-

L-R: NBA president, Wali (SAN), Ekiti Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, and Ekiti Deputy Speaker, Orishalade

we can no longer sleep with our two eyes closed.

This is the situation in which we have found ourselves es as it is today. But nothing can be more dangerous and blood chilling than a systemic attack on innocent school children.

“We must not allow them to succeed.

For if we did, it is from the same young men and women whom they would have stopped from going to school that they will recruit their members tomorrow.

While we appreciate the efforts of security agencies and government’s efforts in containing the activities of these callous criminals, we call on the Federal Government to go back to the drawing board and review the strategy of the fight against terror. Clearly, the current strategy is not working optimally.

“This situation calls for new strategy and plans. And since the sanctity of life means nothing to the blood thirsty

terrorists, no effort should be spared in tracking them down and bringing an end to their madness. This carnage must stop”.

They were, however, unanimous on the centenary celebration, describing it as ill-conceived as the amalgamation anniversary was not in tandem with the nation's socio-political development in the last 100 years.

Apparently miffed that the nation had nothing to show for its 100 years of togetherness, lawyers queried the rationale behind the anniversary,describing its 100 years of political and socio-economic structure a waste.

Their President, Wali said : “This year 2014 marks the centenary anniversary of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates, which now make up Nigeria. That was in 1914. But the question that should be agitating our minds at the moment is: What type of political and socio-economic structure, do we have in Nigeria after 100 years of existence?

“It is significant that after 100 years of existence, Nigeria does not have a home grown peoples Constitution with

a strong political structure.

“The Nigerian Bar Association National Conference and Constitutional Review Committee was approved at the last NEC, held in Lafia and has started work in earnest.

“While the committee was carrying out its work, the Federal Government published a list with the composition for the National Conference and allocated one slot to the Nigerian Bar Association.

“This allocation of one slot elicited an immediate reaction from my humble self by a letter dated 31st January, 2014.

I wrote to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, protesting the allocation of the a slot to the Nigerian Bar Association, I stated that in view of the fact that so many legal issues would be addressed at the National Conference, it is only fitting and proper for the umbrella association of all lawyers in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association, to have more than one delegate at the National Conference. This is an area we are supposed to possess enormous expertise and will definitely add a lot of value to the process.

N584m debt: Engineer, Sterling Bank to settle out of court TRUCE

Parties in a N584m suit have agreed to settle the matter out of court Joseph Jibueze

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n oil well construction engineer, Mr Femi Omotayo, has offered to settle his indebtedness to Sterling

Bank Plc out of court.

Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Lagos , however adjourned till April 29 for a report of settlement.

It was learnt that Omotayo has offered to pay N250million out of the total sum owed.

Although the bank's lawyer , Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN) said he was personally not aware of

the offer to his client, he, however, urged the court to adjourn so that parties could explore an out of court settlement.

"I'm not against the case being adjourned so that we can continue to interrogate the settlement," Ogunba said.

Sterling bank had asked the court to declare Omotayo bankrupt for allegedly owing it about N584million.

Sued as debtors along with Omotayo in a petition dated July 25, 2013, are A.O.S International(Oil and Gas) Ltd. and A.O.S Orwell Ltd. In the suit, numbered FHC/LBK/03/13, Omotayo was said to be the Managing Director and majority shareholders in A.O.S Orwell Ltd which emerged from a merger exercise with

A.O.S International (Oil and Gas) Ltd. The engineer was said to have been the personal guarantee for the loan which was applied for and granted to QED International (Oil and Gas) Nigeria Ltd in 2006.

The bank had claimed that despite the extensions and restructuring of the facilities, Omotayo “failed, refused

and/or neglected to liquidate his indebtedness to the creditor /applicant ”.

Accompanying the petition is an application for interlocutory order to appoint a nominee “as it might deem fit or desirable or the alternatively the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court” to take charge of the respondents' assets.

LAW | INTERVIEW 23

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Godwin Obla , a Senior Advocate of Nigeria speaks on INEC’s plan to stop defection by politicians, president’s power to convene national conference, 2015 elections and sundry issues. TUNDE OYESINA met him in his Abuja office.

Who has the power to convene a national conference?

What is National Conference? A conference for people to come and discuss, what is wrong with it? I do not see anything wrong with it. Those who have the initial doubts and a bit skeptical before ,have all come on board, they have all been nominated as delegates at the conference. I don't see anything wrong in people coming together to talk.

I think what people should be more concerned about is the the legal effects of this discussion. As long as we have a National Assembly, the outcome of the conference can at best be advisory for purposes of either saying that the much enjoyed unity has been eroded, I strongly say no. Whether we still like it or not, Nigeria is still one unlike some other African countries that have broken into pieces. Well, to discuss is very good, but I think, the government will use the strength and the commitment being put into this discussion into the implementation of its resolution. Of course, the resolution can not be implemented automatically but rather serve as a blue print for the legislatures in reviewing the Constitution or making policies which in turn be forwarded to the executive arm. My fear is that after spending a very huge amount of the nation's resources on the conference, will its resolution be implemented in a way that it will have maximum and positive impact on the nation? If the answer is no, then there will be no need for it. But as for whether the President has the power to convene the conference, there is nothing stopping him as far as it is geared towards the unity of the country.

Some were of the opinion that the 2015 elections should be cancelled and that the issue of insecurity should be tackled head on. How will you react to this?

I really don't know the basis for that agitation but it is not an agitation that grounded in law neither can it be supported in law. Insecurity will always be there. Don't they have insecurity in Pakistan? These things happen on a daily basis in Pakistan, they have insecurity there. There is insecurity in Afghanistan, are they not doing elections? We must realize that the world is changing and there are too much disorder in the world and how best to address it is what we should concern ourselves with. But stopping an election because of that will be truncating the democratic process. It means the tenure of office of the office holder will extend beyond constitutional provision and there is no provision for transitional government in our laws.

So ,it is not doable, the suggestion has no basis, it is an illegal one. Those who are plotting to do it, know the reason they are suggesting such. But it is something that should be challenged. When election is stopped because of insecu-

I think what people should be more concerned about is the the legal effects of this discussion Obla

Why INEC cannot sponsor bill on defection, by Obla rity, then it means that all other aspects of governance should also be halted in order to tackle insecurity. Governance is not done like that. Every arm of government works together, none can be stopped for the other, or else there will be a total collapse. I think, whoever is making that proposition has a hidden agenda. No matter the level of insurgency, what should be done should be done especially, the issue of election.

The constitution has provided duration of office of all the office holders.

Extending it by a day will be a breach of the constitution and mind you, two wrongs cannot make a right. You cannot correct a wrong by committing further wrongs INEC is proposing to sponsor a bill that will stop politicians from defecting from one party to another. What is your take on this?

What is their business, their job is to conduct elections. They should stay away from making laws. Even the job of conducting elections has been given them a whole lot of burden. Why did they want to chew more than they can swallow? They should concentrate on their primary mandate which is to conduct elections. It is not their problem or job on how politicians behave. The Constitution has made provisions for who does what in the system. The legislature has been empowered by the Constitution to make laws. It will be out of place for INEC to wake up one morning

and say it wants to take up the responsibility of making laws while it has its major duty of conducting election lying fallow there. I think what INEC should concentrate more on is how it will conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2015. Again, the Constitution has made provisions can move from one party to the other. Proposing another law by INEC is indirectly amending the constitution and the electoral law has no power of such. It is not their duty and they should steer clear of such. In Nigeria, we like dabbling into things that are not within our jurisdiction. Thinking of proposing a bill should be the last thing INEC will think of, when there are a lot of challenges before it in the aspect of conducting election. Election is a few months away from now, INEC should be busy on its drawing board , planning how the 2015 elections will be a success and not what politicians do with their lives.

Boko Haram insurgents, do you see as being political or religious inclined?

I think it is a mixture of so many things. It goes beyond religion, some individuals have hijacked it. The original Boko Haram leaders have essentially been eliminated, a substantial number of them have been eliminated. So ,we are now having a new crop of leaders.

I think people should begin to see Boko Haram like a franchise. It is like McDonald, you know everybody is forming his own, when armed robbers go to bank

Election is a few months away from now, INEC should be busy on its drawing board , planning how the 2015 elections will be a success and not what politicians do with their lives

and rob, they say they are Boko Haram.

People adopt women and when they go to their hiding place, they will have packs of condom, and they say they are Boko Haram. People enter secondary schools and kill and mutilate people and they say they are Boko Haram. I think we are paying the price for so many things. Our economy, our disposition to social welfare to our people, the level of unemployment and then, high level of poverty of mind that allows people to be manipulated by religious extremists.

When we deal with all that, there will be solution. And those who have been behaving like Pontius Pilate, politicians ,who , when this thing started initially, you know a lot of them were behaving as it if it was only a government problem. But now it is consuming everybody and beyond the government. The elders and young people from those communities are all stakeholders in this thing.

They should not pretend as if they don't know these people. If fifty or hundred people are moving, people have an obligation to give information to the security agencies as quickly as they see those people. Nobody will convince me that they see hundred people moving in so many trucks with ammunition on them and then they just close their eyes to it or they pretend that nothing is happening. It is not possible because where are these ammunitions hidden? These ammunitions did not come from the air, they were not flown in, they must have traversed some kilometers. The vehicles they carry are not typical military vehicles. So, we should stop pretending and behaving like Pontius Pilate who even he found Jesus Christ not guilty, he said I wash my hands, I still hand him over to you. The leaders in the zones know these people, they are not faceless, CONTINUED ON PAGE28

24 JURIST

J

ustice Olagoke John Ige was born about 72 years ago in Ibarapa, an agrarian community of Oyo state. His foray into the legal profession was not a happenstance as his hatred for injustice propelled him to study law, which according to him, became an instrument he used to redress injustice.

This , he employed for over two decades as a lawyer until he was elevated to the Bench in 1992. Before his elevation to the Bench, Ige worked as a counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice , where he rose to become a Senior Counsel Grade 2. He resigned his appointment for private practice in 1979.

Ige had a two-and-a-half-year stint in the firm of LateefAdegbite before he set up his chambers at 36A,TafawaBalewa Square, Lagos. He became a Notary Public in 1979.

By dint of hard work, he rose through the rank in the Oyo state judiciary to become the Acting Chief Judge of the state until his retirementabout six years ago.

He told New Telegraph: “Before my appointment as a judge in 1992, I had practised as a legal practitioner in Lagos for 20 years; that is, from 1972 to 1992. When I left the Law School, I worked with the Federal Ministry of Justice between 1972 and 1979 when I withdrew my service as a Senior Counsel, Grade 2.

“I joined the firm of the late LateefAdegbite and was with him for about two and a half years and later set up my own private law firm: 'John O. Ige and Co. Notary Public' at 36A, TafawaBalewa Square, Lagos.

I was appointed Notary Public in 1979. I stayed there for about five years, and I was then sharing an office accommodation with Senator AjudiWaziri, the husband of the immediate past EFCC boss, Mrs. Farida Waziri. He retired as a Chief Superintendent of Police too. I also shared an office with Olateru Olagbegi, who was then at the Lagos High Court. The three of us were sharing offices together then. In 1985, I moved to 6, Catholic Mission Street, Lagos and there I continued my practice.”

Ige said his journey to the Bench was by persuasion as it did not come from him. Instead ,he said it was one Chief Ogundoyin,who,out of his love for the Ibarapa community, wanted the ‘son of the soil’ to occupy the slot.

Although he rejected the offer twice, Justice Ige however, gave a second thought when he was approached about 12 years after the first offer by another prominent indigene.

He said: “It was late Chief Ogundoyin, who in 1979, first mentioned the idea to me that he wanted somebody from Ibarapa to be appointed a judge. And I told him then that I had no building in Lagos,and that the only house I had there was under construction and that I wanted to complete it before embarking on anything else. He tried to persuade me but I insisted.

Later he saw reason with me and that was all.

“But in 1991, Chief Ogundoyin died and in 1992, I was approached again by a cousin of mine, Barrister Francis Adeoye, who is also late now. It was the same for Justice S.L. Popoola who is from Oke-Ogun. When he suggested it, I said there was no problem, and that Chief Ogundoyin had earlier mentioned it to me. So, I gave them my C.V and that was all. And I was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Oyo state.”

Asked on whether he is relaxing in retirement, Justice Ige simply said: “Well, retirement experience depends on individual, quite honestly. If you want to

If you want to be idle in retirement, you will be idle.

If you want to be busy in retirement, you will be busy

Thursday, March 13, 2014

I became a judge practice- 72 year UNTIL his retirement in October 2008, Justice John Olagoke Ige was the acting Chief Judge of Oyo state . The 72-year-old Ibarapa-born retired judge is the Secretary of the Oyo/Osun branch of the Association of Justices Emeritus of Nigeria, with Justice Bola Babalakin (JSC) as Chairman. Ige expressed a series of feelings to SOLA ADEYEMO, ranging from judiciary to politics, his concern for the corporate existence of the country, as well as the secret of his youthful look.

Justice Ige

be idle in retirement, you will be idle. If you want to be busy in retirement, you will be busy. But if you are determined to keep yourself busy, there are ways of going about it.

“For instance, if I know I have nothing doing, I could go to my farm in Eruwa. Justice Sanda and I have a farm there. We have cassava there, and so if we like, we could go and while away the time there.

But this time around, if we don't have time going to the farm, there is no problem because we have people working there. I do arbitration, which takes a lot of my time. You have to read bulky papers before you go for the meeting.

“I also belong to a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). There are religious pro-

grammes too which take a lot of my time. The Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship International is one of them. I am the chapter president at Onireke here in Ibadan for the past three years.

“There are times when lawyers know that you have time to listen to them. So, many lawyers do come here from time to time with briefs of argument, records of appeal if they are going on appeal. They ask for other grounds of appeal from judgments which they would want me to study. I will have to take the record of proceedings, go through them and give them advice.

"Aside that, I have written some Practice Notes in the past three years after my retirement, to assist lawyers in the practice. They include:

JURIST 25

Thursday, March 13, 2014

after 20 years of law - old retired judge i

Protection and Enforcement of Fundamental Rights

ii

Enforcement of judgments

iii

Cases and materials on criminal Law and Procedures.

iv

Lawyers Land Law Companion.

v

Law of Divorce and Matrimonial Proceedings.

vi

Making a Will.

vii

Landlord and Tenants: Useful hints.

“The notes are not meant to be used as textbooks,rather they are a collection of legal materials to complement the research efforts of students and lawyers in the preparation of their cases. The notes are widely consulted by legal practitioners.

"Still on my retirement experience and need to assist the practice, I love to cite an instance. Here is a copy of a judgment which I went through a couple of days ago. It is a four-page judgment where a man is claiming N22m. I told the lawyer that it is a pity that this judgment is not from this state. I would have called the attention of one or two people to this one.

How could a judge write this type of judgment in a case involving N22m claim? There is nothing in the first page because it is just a repetition of the claims in the case. The other page just contains beating about the bush. And in the last page, you have 'in the final analysis...' It is a case of libel. The judge cited only one case throughout the judgment. That is part of what lawyers come for consultation for.”

On quality of judgements, he said: “You see, if they blame some of these judges, you can hadly defend them. But you see, because one is part of the system, one won't feel happy with this type of thing. I told the lawyer that it was not good for this kind of judgment to go on appeal. Even if they say you must submit six judgments in a quarter, the quality of the judgment matters. It is not just any judgment. With this kind of a judgment, the judge is not only doing a disservice only to himself, but to even the lawyer and of course to the public. You are paid for what you have done; and that apart, there was no research at all. How do you help the lawyers to really assess or evaluate what you have done? Lawyers must have spent days to call witnesses, and this is what a judge would call a judgment that is going on appeal! Would the judge have a conscience to say he has done a good job? What type of job is he doing?

"So, when they ask them to produce judgments, the quality of the judgment matters. The judgment may go on appeal. And if you have written a worthless judgment that is going on appeal, you create problem

Imagine some litigants who might have traveled to the court from outside jurisdiction. They come and feel disappointed for doing nothing.

That is why you find congestion in many courts

for the litigants too. That is because what you have put down is neither here nor there."

On judges’ appointment, the retired judge said the process must be reviewed.

He said: “They should not just go and appoint anybody simply because the lawyer is 10 years at the Bar or he is 100 years at the Bar. No, no! Appoint people who have the qualities of a lawyer. Appoint knowledgeable persons, intelligent persons, people who are intellectually strong and morally good. It is not a matter of sentiment. Do you have the experience?

How many paper documents have you prepared? How many judges do you know by way of appearing before them? How many contentious matters have you handled successfully or unsuccessfully? These are the questions to be asked.

“But if you appointed people who have not even drafted a motion, the public will pay for it. The legal practitioners will pay for it, and everybody will pay for it. Appoint people who are intelligent and intellectually upright, and not people who will bribe their way to the top. It doesn't pay the system, and we all pay for it. If you are not qualified and you go there, there will be embarrassment for you.

“Members of the public know judges who are good.

There is no pretence about that. This is because if you are bad, it will show. For instance, if litigants watch as you are being dribbled by lawyers, they will know that you are completely empty. So, that is why as a judge you have to make sure that you really deserve to be a judge and you are qualified. And you are fully equipped intellectually.

“If you are not, nobody is forcing you to go there in the first place. Once you go there, you know you are going to work. It is not a matter of going there to sit down and relax. The lawyers that appear before you have done their own work, so you should do yours too. You have to show them that you really mean business. Some of our colleagues allow lawyers to bamboozle them; which is bad. They could dribble you: it is all right, but you also would have prepared your case. When lawyers appear before judges, they are not servants; they are there to assist the court.

And you learn a lot from them when you listen carefully to their arguments.

“Don't think when lawyers appear before you, they are there before you to get some favour. All of you are there to do justice. You will learn a lot from them if you listen carefully to their arguments. If you think you are a judge and so you don't need the lawyers, you may end up knowing nothing. The young lawyer who is coming to appear before you has rehearsed his case before coming. Even some of them may know better. So, any judge should be patient to listen well to lawyers who are appearing before them. And when you go back, you come back with something good.

“When lawyers are appointed judges, the difference is always there because before you go to court, you must have ratified your case; get to the court by 9 a.m.

And when the court is not sitting, he is discouraged because he must have prepared from home. So, you feel bad as a lawyer. As a lawyer, if you are on the Bench, what you have been doing in practice is part of it. You will not like to get to court only to have your case adjourned anyhow; for no valid reason. No, it is frustrating. Frustrating to the lawyer; frustrating

to the litigant and frustrating to the society. Even, a judge who has conscience, it is frustrating to him too.

Why are you being paid in the first place? If you do your work well, apart from the NJC monitoring you, members of the public too are there watching you.

This is because they are the best judges; not even the NJC. Asked why some judges sit at 10.30 a.m contrary to statutory 9.a.m time, he said: “That is really unfortunate. Really and really unfortunate. And you see, there are some judges that will sit at 9a.m. and hear cases till about 5p.m. It is not fair. That is why when you compare some Chief Judges, judges, who are conscientious, they will see or hear this type of practice and feel embarrassed. But there is nothing we can do about this other than telling them and getting them realise that it is wrong. That is why I said earlier that if you are a practising lawyer before you were appointed a judge, you will have got to court before 9a.m., because court sits at 9a.m. Prepare your case and sit at 9a.m. Any adjournment at all could be frustrating because the lawyer pays for his office, his staff.

IGE AT A GLANCE * Born in 1942 * Worked as Senior Counsel Grade 2, Federal Ministry of Justice between 1972 and 1979 * Became Notary Public in 1979 * Elevated to the Bench in 1992 * Retired as Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State in 2008 * Has been President, Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International, Onireke Chapter for three years

Justice Ige (rtd)

26 LAW | DYNASTY

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e is the Managing Partner and Head of Chambers, Bola Ajibola and Co. The firm specialises in civil claims, land law, criminal law, commercial law, arbitration, maritime law and trademarks. Adesegun Ajibola, a member of several prestigious clubs, is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He was awarded the SAN rank in 2011 after 21 years at the Bar. It is a huge responsibility to be the son of Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), who was a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, a President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and judge of the International Court of Justice.

Ajibola was born in 1963, a year after his father was called to the English Bar at the Lincoln’s Inn in 1962, having graduated from the Holborn College of Law, University of London.

Coming from such a family background, Ajibola said people expect much from him. It is also not surprising that he chose to study law as a young man , having been influenced by his father's successful career spanning over four decades.

“It is impossible for an animal not to be influenced by his environment, in particular by his forebears,” Ajibola admitted.

“If you see a man behaving in a particular manner, most times they ask you to check his background and his parentage. My case was no exception.

I grew up knowing my dad as a lawyer.

Law was the second language in our home.

“Words like lawyers, courts, Nigerian Bar Association, conferences, seminars and things that had a bearing on the legal profession were common themes in our home.

"One cannot but be influenced by those circumstances one found himself. I must confess that my influence came from that background.

“In a lot of ways my dad was helpful in encouraging that I took that line, being a line he had trodden successfully and in which he believed I could find a future.

"With gratitude to God, I’m privileged to be born into that environment which gave me the opportunity to be in the noble profession that I have been in all my working life.”

But could he have studied anything other than law? Ajibola said he could have been either a musician or an environmentalist.

“Most likely I would have been an artiste, a musical artiste, if I hadn’t read law. When I say this to some people they laugh. I love music and I still do. That was the direction that I first felt I was going to go.

“Another thing that I thought of when I was younger was farming. I love plants and animals. I’m amazed at how trees grow from saplings, and how animals grow from birth. I love nature, astrology and the likes.”

Ajibola said people, even judges, expect a lot from him, being the son of a former justice minister? How is he faring in living outside his father’s

Thursday, March 13, 2014

‘Corrupt judges not criminal prosecution’ HE is the scion of Ajibola law dynasty. Adesegun Mohammed Ajibola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and son of a former World Court judge, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), is an alumnus of the University of Jos. He was called to the Bar in 1990. Ajibola, who cut his legal teeth in three different law firms in the United Kingdom before joining the famous firm of G.O.K Ajayi and Co, Lagos, is now the managing partner and head of chambers, Bola Ajibola and Co, Lagos. He tells JOSEPH JIBUEZE his foray into the legal profession, corruption , challenges of being the scion of Prince Bola Ajibola law dynasty and the people’s expectation of his dual personality.

Ajibola, SAN

shadow?

He said: “I have grown used to those kinds of situations; people expect so much from me. It is not uncommon.

I expect that coming from that stock, there is a level of quality that would be assumed that you would have. But in most cases that is not always the case.

“Everyone has their own approach and ways of looking at things. I think it is a bit unfair, but I understand perfectly why it is so, but I have accepted it as a way of life and a cross I must carry. I live with it as comfortably as I can, without letting it get to me much.”

Having practiced law for two decades, Ajibola is bothered by allegations of corruption in the judiciary, and he would want to see anyone indicted face trial rather than merely being eased out.

He spoke against the backdrop of the practice of retiring judges found to have violated their oath of office.

“Judiciary and corruption are two things that must never mix because of the very crucial nature of the responsi-

bility that the judiciary is required to discharge. It is of a nature that cannot habour corruption. It could destroy its entire fabric.

“On whether corrupt judges should be subjected to criminal trial, I think there is a good point there. We have the anti-corruption laws either founded in the EFCC Act, ICPC Act or Criminal Code. Judges are no exemption from the applicability of those laws and the requirement that they can be prosecuted if they are found wanting in that regard.

“I am one of those who believe that the first step in dealing with the problem of corruption in the judiciary is the immediately relieving judges of

the responsibility that they hold, and then giving an opportunity for the law to take its course.

“I agree that they should go a step further, and that judges should not be allowed to feel immune from the hands of the law, when in fact the law does not allow for such immunity.

“If any judicial officer has been found corrupt, or has committed a crime of any sort, either in his sheer capacity or otherwise, he should be made to face the law like anybody else would do. I think it would send the right signal and encourage the deterrence that we want to have.

“As soon as we begin to see such situations, perhaps we will see a bet-

Judiciary and corruption are two things that must never mix because of the very crucial nature of the responsibility that the judiciary is required to discharge.

It is of a nature that cannot habour corruption. It could destroy its entire fabric

NEWS 27

Thursday, March 13, 2014

immune to

Court vacates order restraining musician from releasing musical work Joseph Jibueze

I’m privileged to be born into that environment which gave me the opportunity to be in the noble profession that I have been in all my working life ter managed judiciary and less corruption.

"However, I don’t think there’s a society that is corruption-free, but we want to make it as manageable as possible, so that we don’t have a breakdown of law and order which can flow from a breakdown of judicial responsibility.”

Another area of concern to stakeholders is the very long time it takes to decide a case. For instance, there are several instances in which trial is yet to begin in criminal cases that were instituted against former governors in 2007.

Most have been delayed due to the filing of interlocutory applications, with some wondering whether such preliminary applications should be done away with. What does Ajibola think?

“Law in its application must have a process, and there are procedures and rules which guide the application of those laws. However, those rules and procedure are open for abuse by people who don’t have the proper sense of responsibility. That is the aspect that we need to deal with and arrest.

“We as lawyers need to tell ourselves the frank truth. We have ethical standards - rules and regulations which guide our practice. They do not encourage the idea of filing frivolous applications with a deliberate intention of delaying a matter.

“But it is difficult to know when an application is filed for a frivolous reason. It is the difficulty in accessing that intention that gives room for the abuse that we talk about.

"How do you know whether in sincere and honest sense the lawyer is not acting in the best interest of his client, moreso when the steps he has taken is a procedure which the law allows?”

What then does he think is the best way out? “We need to re-orientate ourselves and appreciate the fact that at the end of the day we’re all losers.

"It may work for you today, because you’re on this side of the law. If tomorrow you find yourself on the other side, and the same thing happens to you, you will lose.

“Encouraging that kind of approach to administration of justice is something that will do no one no good at the end of the day. It may help in resolving a temporary situation, but in the long run, we’re all losers.

"Perhaps there is no other country that has as much causes of delays in

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Ajibola, SAN

dispensation of justice as Nigeria, except as I hear, in India.

“We need to evolve better arrangement which will be in place to curb the excesses of some of us who abuse that process. I think it requires a thinktank approach, as we try to do regarding law reforms, which gave rise to the new Lagos State rules that came from the need to fast-track and reduce bottle-necks and roadblocks in dispensation of justice.

“However, no one process is perfect.

Any process designed by man stands to be defeated by the same man. The same man who invented the pencil invented the eraser. We don’t benefit from abuse generally. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all losing.

“Once we can accept that as a platform, and get people to understand that the failure of one is that failure of all, the sooner we begin to approach the situation from a standpoint of positive and honest sense of purpose.

"However, it requires a scientific approach in dealing with a very fundamental problem which has bedeviled our system and is slowing us down.”

Another provision in the rules that has caused delays is the principle of a case starting de novo (afresh) where witnesses had been called before a judge is transferred, is elevated to a higher court, or dies and another judge takes over.

In such a situation, witnesses would have to be recalled. Ajibola said aspects of this provision needs to be revisited.

“It’s difficult for a case not to start de novo. One of the functions of the judge is to watch the demeanour of the witnesses before him, not just lis-

We have ethical standards rules and regulations which guide our practice. They do not encourage the idea of filing frivolous applications...

ten to their testimony alone. He has to see that the evidence being given is given with conviction, and in a manner which portrays the truth.

“It is difficult for a judge who has taken over a case and who has not had the opportunity of watching the demeanour of the witnesses to form a complete picture of the evidence that has been given. It will be akin to vision without sound.

“I agree that it reverses the order and tends to delay the matter, but in most cases where evidence had not been taken, the need for de novo is not applicable. It’s applicable in most situations where evidence has been taken.

"It will be unfair to expect a judge who did not see the witness to have the complete picture and form an opinion as to whether the witness is one of truth or of lies.

“It is that requirement to see that justice is done and transparently done that gave rise to the de novo principle.

When you compare the injustice that can be done, you probably find out that it is better to take all the time that is required to achieve justice than achieving injustice in a short time.

“What I will be happy to see is that the aspect of the requirement for trial to start all over as it is in most cases is restricted strictly to aspects which evidence by witnesses have been taken, so that whoever takes over assumes all the processes and procedural steps taken before then.

“In this country where our approach to things is most times questionable, once you have a witness come in once and give evidence, getting him back most times to repeat most things he has said is a problem. Situations change and influences would come in. Eventually some people escape justice.”

Speaking on the recent fuel scarcity which saw pump prices skyrocket and people spend hours on queues, Ajibola blamed the government for not learning from the past.

he Federal High Court in Lagos has vacated an interim order of injunction which restrained an artiste, Olawale Ashimi (alias Brymo) from publishing any musical work.

Justice Ibrahim Buba had made an interim order on October 21 last year, restraining the "Ara" singer from releasing or distributing any musical work pending the determination of a substantive suit against him.

A record label, Chocolate City, had on October 21 last year, filed an ex-parte motion seeking an order restraining Brymo from recording any musical work, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

The plaintiff claimed that its contract with the singer was valid till 2016.

It urged the court to make an order restraining the defendant from composing or releasing any musical work for any other person or label other than Chocolate City, until the main suit is heard.

Justice Buba in his ruling, made an interim order restraining Brymo from releasing, composing or distributing any musical works for the benefit of any person or organisation other than Chocolate City pending the determination of the suit.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, counsel to the defendant, Mrs Nike Olagbende asked the court to reconsider the interim order which restrained the singer from releasing any musical work.

She argued that if the order was sustained, it would occasion hardship on her client who she said was a creative artiste that should not be left idle.

She therefore prayed the court to exercise its discretion in the interest of justice, since the defendant had no other business but singing.

Counsel to the plaintiff Mr E.O Lawal however opposed the application of defence counsel, adding that it will also occasion financial constraints on the plaintiff if the defendant is allowed to continue releasing musical work on another label.

He, therefore, urged the court to refuse the request as prayed by defence counsel.

Justice Buba, however, in a short ruling, vacated the interim order and ordered accelerated hearing of the case.

He said: "Asking the defendant not to record or release any musical work is like signing a footballer and keeping him on the bench without allowing him play.

"The interim order made on October 21, 2013 is hereby vacated while an order of accelerated hearing of the case is made this day," the judge ruled.

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LAW | INTERVIEW

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Stakeholders seek end to torture To discuss is very good, but I think, the government will use the strength and the commitment being put into this discussion into the implementation of its resolution

Joseph Jibueze

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

they have families, they have roots, they have family houses, they have kinsmen.

If we want an end , then every one from the troubled zone need to braze up and help the government and the security agencies in uncovering them. If we continue to play deception, it won't take us to any where. It may be in the North today, who knows what will happen tomorrow? It is the fight of the entire Nigerians and not a particular region.

How can you access the political terrain?

There is nothing different between the People's Democratic Party and the All Progressive Congress. First and foremost, I don't think they have the interest of this country at heart. I also see that the bulk of them are looking for ways to be gainfully employed and the political space provides the opportunity for any meaningful employment for them and that is why when you see some of them after leaving office, about a year or two, very little positive things can be attributed to them in terms of how they have been able to conduct themselves in business or in any other professional engagement. They are a strange bird fellows on the same tree, I can't see how a lot of politicians moving from APC to PDP can function there. Or that strange contraption called APC can function. I see a disaster waiting to happen. It is going to explode. A lot of the characters there have insulted themselves before, they have accused themselves of corruption so many times before but now, they are working to together. I think there will be a lot of interesting times in the next few months. When they all begin to share their political offices after their convention, and they begin to conduct their primaries, we will have a clear idea whether they are serious people or the jokers that I believe they are. Our politicians in this country are only players on the field. The country is their football, and they are ready to play as long as they can. To me APC is just an extension of PDP. You can take a look at the membership, are they not the same people who have been dribbling us all this while? But well, I think we electorate can take our destinies in our hands.

‘National conference’ll strengthen Nigeria’s unity' Do you foresee a free and fair election in 2015?

It depends on the people, the people can decide to take control of the entire process. People can decide to take control of their destiny if they want. We have seen free and fair elections before.

The election in Bauchi that brought in Yuguda was free and fair because the people decide to control it. They controlled the polling unit, from where materials were distributed to the polling units and the movement of result from the polling unit to the collation unit were controlled. If the people do not compromise and they insist on their right, the proper thing will be done. Our security agencies should also brazen up to the challenges that may come up.

The government should equip the security agencies with equipment that will match any attempt of breakdown of law and order. INEC on its own , should do all within its power to ensure that materials get to designated poll center on time. A free and fair election in 2015 is a duty to be performed by all of us.

Electorate should vote as led by their conscience and not money. Technology has gone beyond shedding of blood during election.

Nomination of Justice ZainabBulkachuwa, who is the number two in the hierarchy of the Court of Appeal as the President of the court, is it not a departure from the tradition?

Justice Bulkachuwa is eminently qualified as the President of the Court of Appeal and I think people should stop crying more than the bereaved. If there

is a senior, what did the senior say? Is the senior complaining? There can always be a departure. The NJC has its reasons for nominating Bulkachuwa and I think before any one should complain, the reasons should be known. But on the issue of qualification, Bulkachuwa is qualified for the office. I say no more.

Some people are calling for the abolition of the SAN, what is your take on this?

I am a Senior Advocate, I applied for it because I believed in it. In every society, there will always be disagreement as to the proprietary or otherwise of a particular position or rank and things like that. As far as I am concerned , I really don't see anything wrong with the rank. It is something that I desired.

I worked hard for it and by the grace of God I got it. Everyone prays to get to the top of his or her career.

How would you access the judiciary under the leadership of the present CJN? Well, like every other thing, they are having a lot of trying times. If you look at the budget of the judiciary, it has been going down. Meanwhile, the expectation from the populace has been increasing and the number of judges that are required to undertake the task of adjudication is increasing. So, while the burden of the judiciary is increasing, the resources available to the judiciary is diminishing. It is a very strange occurrence. The CJN had in no small way improved the status of our judiciary. But be that as it may, there is still more to do, if the hope of the common man will be totally restored.

A free and fair election in 2015 is a duty to be performed by all of us. Electorate should vote as led by their conscience and not money

takeholders in the criminal justice system have resolved to facilitate the elimination of torture in Nigeria.

They called for the establishment and enforcement of decisive legal mechanisms to abolish the use of torture by officials within the system.

This call was made at the end of a three day training session organised by Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders), for stakeholders in Plateau and Kaduna states with the support of the High Commission of Canada in Nigeria.

The training was organised to build the capacity of participants on the principles and application of the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).

Avocats' Communication Officer, Akpa Eleojo Esther, said in a press release that it was also to garner support and action for UNCAT's advancement in the Nigerian judicial system.

The event was part of the group's “promoting the United Nations Convention against Torture in Nigeria” (ProCAT) project.

In attendance were participants from various arms of the justice system including the police, prisons, Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and legal associations like the National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Bar Association, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria and the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.

Vigorous training was given on international, regional and domestic legal instruments, as well as practical excursions into various legal scenarios involving the use of torture to dehumanize detainees.

Expressing enthusiasm about the impact of the meeting, a magistrate, Mr G. M. Abdullahi said: “The ProCAT training session is excellent because it explicitly addresses the issue of torture.

"An enforcement mechanism should be put in place for successful judgements against torture under this project,” he said.

Participants said they want to see a determination to ensure that confessional statements were henceforth obtained without resorting to torture.

The ProCAT project is funded by the Canada Funds for Local Initiatives.

IGP Abubakar

BUSINESS Thursday, March 13, 2014

What's news Cocoa records high prices for February –ICCO Review Cocoa prices swung up in the month of February 2014, the International Cocoa Association (ICCO) Monthly Cocoa Review for February has stated.

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NIMC kicks-off mobile enrolment The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has kicked-off mobile enrolment of National Identity Number in the Federal Capital Territory with pilot enrolment exercise targeted at major markets, shopping Plazas, villages, settlements and satellite towns.

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Qualcomm plans e-medical record for Nigeria Qualcomm Incorporated, through its Wireless Reach initiative has announced a partnership to develop and deploy a wireless, electronic medical record (EMR) system to clinics.

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Nation’s hunt for skilled workforce The point has been made severally by employers of labour, including industry stakeholders, that apart from the problem of weak infrastructure, Nigeria has one critical problem – dearth of skilled workforce.

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

EMBARGO The Federal Government has reaffirmed that the privatisation policy on refineries stand suspended.

Adeola Yusuf

CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor Abdulwahab Isa, Finance Editor Chuks Onuanyin, Energy Nnamdi Amadi, Reporter

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

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ayodele aminu, Deputy Editor, business

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

Fear of fuel price hike heightens

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he fear that government is using the short supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to hike the pump prices of the product heightened among marketers and some stakeholders nationwide on Tuesday.

Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude exporter, penultimate week, experienced acute shortage of refined product, a situation, which the minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, blamed on hoarding and diversion by some marketers.

Investigations by New Telegraph, however, showed that many marketers still believe that government had plans to hike the pump prices by rationing supply.

Government had devised this means to introduce price hike in the past.

"The issue is that there is lack of trust. It is true that the product supply from depots and NNPC intervention has increased, but there are still hiccups in some stations based on the belief that government

L-R: President, The Nigeria Council Of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu; Lagos State Commissioner For Environment, Tunji Bello ; Acting Managing Director Wapic Insurance Plc, Mr. Ashish Desai, and Director General, Nigeria Insurance Association. Mr Sunday Thomas, during the groundbreaking ceremony of Wapic Insurance plc Corporate head office in Lagos..

may eventually hike the price," a marketer who craved anonymity told this paper.

"We are business men and the way we think is that those with stock as at the time the price hike is announced have made the best business decision," he said.

But the minister, who confirmed knowledge of apprehen-

sion among Nigerians on the price hike, described the fear as unnecessary.

“There seems to be some sorts of rumours that we intended to increase the pump price of petroleum products and I have said categorically and severally that the Federal Government has no intention of increasing the pump price of

a way of addressing the issue of poor service quality that has often trailed their services.

ALTON is the umbrella body of telecommunications operators.

In details made available

PMS (premium motor spirit) or petroleum products now or in the near future. That is for certain,” she said on Tuesday.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources and Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Alison-Madueke, who was jolted by activities of some marketers, threatened to publish names of marketers who engaged in product diversion.

She called on marketers to collaborate with it to eradicate the fuel queues from filling stations across the country.

Alison-Madueke stated this after the Ministry’s budget appraisal for 2013 and budget defence for 2014 before the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committees on Petroleum Upstream, Downstream and Gas in Abuja.

She said that already, the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

QoS: Telecom operators mull peer review mechanism Jonah Iboma

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elecommunication operators have suggested an arrangement whereby they monitor what they do as a way of getting out of the persistent complaints about quality of service and the attendant

WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor DELE ALAO, Brands/Marketing Editor

NEW TELEGRAPH

How to invest in bolts, nuts manufacturing

fines imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

According to the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, this position has been suggested to NCC to consider as

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE

LENDING RATE

Feburary 2014......................8.00% January 2014 .......................8.00% December 2013....................7.80%

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

30 BUSINESS | NEWS pricing Cocoa futures prices swung up in February surpassinf the highs reached in previous months.

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Cocoa records high prices for February –ICCO Review

Siaka Momoh

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ocoa prices swung up in the month of February 2014, the International Cocoa Association (ICCO) Monthly Cocoa Review for February has stated.

According to the review, in February, the ICCO daily price averaged US$2,994 per tonne, up by US$175 compared with the average price recorded in the previous month (US$2,819), and ranged between US$2,941 and US$3,032 per tonne.

It stated that cocoa futures prices continued their upward movement in February and surpassed the highs reached in the previous month.

“Several fundamental factors supported the cocoa price movements during the month.

In particular, at the end of the first week of February, cocoa futures prices increased as reports of a strong decline in exports from the third largest producer, Indonesia, further heightened concerns of a global shortage. Thereafter, by the second week of February, cocoa futures mirrored the general price rise experienced by most commodities and reached a new two and a half year high at £1,866 per tonne in London

Lubricants Technical Manager, Mr. Ayobami Odetola; Head of marketing communication, Mr. Seun Soyinka and Marketing Manager, Lubrication Mr. Seun Adeosun, during press briefing of TVC of their OLEUM product at Oando Head Office, Lagos.

and US$2,957 per tonne in New York,” it states.

It noted that the rise in cocoa prices was also triggered by news of dry weather conditions in some of the cocoa producing areas in West Africa and its probable negative impact on the upcoming mid-crops. “However, cocoa prices reversed their upward trend in the third week of the month. During this period, origin forward hedging activities taking advantage of the previous price hikes resulted in

Fear of fuel price hike heightens CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

situation is coming under control and steps are being taken to flood the market with petrol in the next few weeks.

She argued that the tightness in the petroleum products supply chain was as a result of hoarding and diversion of the products by marketers, stressing that those found diverting or hoarding will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Mrs. Alison-Madueke said that based on the actual funds released to the ministry in 2013, the budget performance stood at 89.6 per cent, adding that the capital release recorded 50.2 per cent, while recurrent recorded 100 per cent.

She revealed that over N60 billion is projected for the 2014 budget in line with the MediumTerm Expenditure Framework, and assured that the ministry would complete some of the ongoing projects that were started in the previous financial year.

The minister said that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Framework in the 2014 budget is geared towards having a robust LPG development in the country, stressing that the ministry is collaborating with NNPC Retail to ensure that the LPG project receives full implementation.

Answering question on the status of the planned privatisation of the refineries, Mrs. Alison-Madueke averred that the Federal Government stood down the privatisation policy of the state owned refineries because of the agreement reached with the labour unions but added that the best way forward is privatisation.

Commenting on the frontier exploration activities, Mrs. Alison-Madueke posited that the Chad exploratory activities were still ongoing, stressing that in 2013, because of the heightened insecurity in the area, not much was done.

a drop in cocoa prices,” the review stated.

By the end of February, according to the ICCI review, amid the backdrop of a general consensus of a supply deficit, cocoa futures prices resumed their upward trend.

The review stated further: “Data from news agencies in-

dicated that cocoa arrivals at ports in Côte d’Ivoire reached 1.1 million tonnes by March 2.

As the main crop tails off, attention is now on the outcome of the mid-crop. Total output for Ghana is expected to reach around 870,000 tonnes in 2013/2014, in line with a statement issued by the country’s

COCOBOD that expressed confidence about exceeding the new output target of 850,000 tonnes.

“In Indonesia, production is projected to fall to 410,000 tonnes for the current season.

This reduction contrasts with the country’s booming cocoa processing sector, and this situation has led to an increase in Indonesia’s cocoa bean imports.”

The ICCO Secretariat’s first forecasts for the current 2013/2014 cocoa year, published in the latest issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, envisage a supply deficit of around 115,000 tonnes. World cocoa bean production is expected to increase by over four per cent to 4.104 million tonnes.

Grindings are also forecast to increase by 2.5 per cent to 4.178 million tonnes. If realised this would decrease the total statistical stocks of cocoa beans as at the end of the 2013/2014 cocoa year from 1.662 million tonnes in the previous season to 1.547 million tonnes, which would be equivalent to 37 percent of projected annual grindings for the current season.

Unilever plans manufacturing in Ethiopia

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nilever plans manufacturing in Ethiopia Unilever (UNA), the world’s secondbiggest consumer-products maker, plans to open a manufacturing plant in Ethiopia during the next year in a bid to emulate its expansion into Vietnam, a company official said., according to Bloomberg report.

The London- and Rotterdambased company is renting premCONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

to New Telegraph, Adebayo decried the situation whereby NCC was yet to take practical steps to address issues they have raised on solving poor quality of service.

“We have suggested peer review mechanism, which is yet to be implemented. All we hear is go and improve quality of service” the ALTON chairman stated.

He insisted that continued sanctions will not improve service quality, adding that all operators were part of a single national network. He noted that when one does anything

ises for a plant in the Chinesebuilt Eastern Industry Zone in Dukem, 31 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, Dougie Brew, head of corporate affairs in Africa, said in a phone interview on March 4. Unilever, which already imports Knorr stock cubes and Omo detergent into Ethiopia, may initially make fabriccleaning soaps before moving

into food, he said.

“The plans are ambitious for Ethiopia because we see it as a growing market,” Brew said from London. “We’ve taken a long-term investment decision in Ethiopia because of the demography, broad-based growth and opportunity to create a genuinely inclusive and sustainable business model from scratch.”

QoS: Telecom operators mull peer review mechanism wrong or right, it impacts the network accordingly.

“Continued sanction does not and will not solve the problem. It is misplaced and not in good spirit of progress of the industry. We are operating a national network. That one operator has done well in certain element and the other three failed does not mean all is well. If you carry out a public vote on quality of service you will find out that all the operators have failed in terms

of quality of service”, Adebayo stated.

He argued that sanctioning operators by the way of fine and putting it into government coffers does not have any moral justification because the victims of poor quality of service are telecom subscribers.

This position is what had been canvassed by the National association of Telecommunications Subscribers, especially since the regulator started issuing fines.

BUSINESS | ICT

Charges paid by companies for permits to build infrastructure has been one sore point in the quest for developing Nigeria’s telecommunications and information technology sector. JONAH IBOMA examines the challenges and the recent efforts to find solution to the problem.

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ne common feature of Nigeria’s economy today is infrastructure deficit. The problem of insufficient roads, poor and inadequate railway system and electricity power shortages are all well known characteristics of Nigeria’s economic landscape today.

Another aspect of the economy which suffers infrastructure deficit but is less talked about is telecommunications.

Truly, Nigeria has seen explosive growth in the telecommunications industry in the last 13 years and this has resulted in subscriber figures rising from a mere 400,000 in 2001 to over 100 million in 2013.

However, on the back of that growth is the huge cost that operators have had to pay to get permit to lay infrastructure. In both rural and urban centres, local government and state officials request special levies from telecommunications operators before they could put their infrastructure under or on the ground and in the air.

The charges that telecommunication firms are asked to pay are determined by the state and local government concerned. In Lagos for instance, the cost of laying a meter of copper or optic fibre was fixed at N3000 until a recent review negotiated by the Communications Technology Minister brought the price down to N500.

In certain locations payment is made to even hoodlums, otherwise called area boys, to ensure that infrastructure are protected and that workers are not attacked in the course of doing their jobs.

With the problem spreading everywhere, the views among some industry watchers today is that such levies are one of the major hindrances to infrastructure development in the telecommunications and information technology industry.

This situation has thereby led to a slowing down of infrastructure development in the ICT sector. Today, optic fibre coverage in the country is still less than the desired. Prior to the era of optic fibre use, copper used to be the primary

Johnson

Jegede

source of metropolitan communications. But with little investment in the sector over the years, Nigeria had also suffered inadequate coverage of such important infrastructure.

It will be recalled that when mobile services was introduced in 2001, one of the reasons why operators had to impose charges as high as N50 for a minute call was because of the huge infrastructure deficit the country had at that time. Facilities for interconnection of calls from one network to another was so limited that operators such as MTN and Econet Wireless had to assist NITEL, the single national carrier then, to set up emergency lines to meet subscribers’ demand.

But the challenge is not over yet, 13 years after mobile services were introduced. Given that Nigeria is aiming at ensuring growth on broadband services, a reduction of the high cost of procurement of Right of Way (RoW) has been identified by industry watchers as an important step that needs to be taken in order to achieve such laudable objectives.

Speaking against the backdrop of the recent agreement reached between the Ministry of Communications Technology and Lagos State Government for

the reduction of Right of Way charges from N3000 to N500 per metre, they noted that the development was a very positive one for Nigeria’s telecommunication infrastructure growth.

It will be recalled that the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, in September 2013, promised to engage the relevant authorities as an expedient means of bringing down these costs and also addressing the issue of multiple taxation in the telecommunications sector.

An important focal point of the minister’s engagement so far is the creation of a standardised Right of Way (ROW) charge across the country.

The Chief Executive Officer, Phase3 Telecom, Mr. Stanley Jegede, is one of such people who supports the initiative. According to him, the reduction, aside quickening the pace of infrastructure rollout, will also lead to greater service affordability for end-users.

“This is a remarkable milestone that will not only accelerate deployment of broadband infrastructure in Nigeria but will drive the affordability of broadband services to end users. Building an enabling environment for cost effective broadband infrastructure

Building an enabling environment for cost effective broadband infrastructure deployment will greatly serve public interest

deployment will greatly serve public interest in several ways from the reduced cost of access to fast information exchange in cyberspace to gaining global online visibility for one’s business.

Certainly, this will positively impact and improve the socio-economic lives of many Nigerians on many levels,” he said.

Jegede, whose firm is Nigeria’s leading infrastructure provider, reiterated that standardised Right of Way (ROW) charges for industry players on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms is a fundamental instrument towards enabling the interoperability of ICT networks and convergence. He added that this will positively impact telecommunications operational models and consumption mechanisms in the industry.

He stated that lack of harmonised regulations coupled with multiple taxation in a technical business community such as the telecommunication sector, hinders licensing commitments, encumber competition and limits consumer user experience.

According to him, “fibre optic cable deployment is being held up in several states particularly over Right of Way (ROW) payments which have already been made to the Federal Government and this pushes the additional cost to the end users and makes the basic telecom services seem beyond the reach of the common man.”

President, Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, is one of those who support the reduction, noting that it will impact the development of the sector positively.

The Chief Executive Officer, Cane Digital Systems, Mr. Austin Egbunike, stated that although there is a reduction, it would have been better to drop such charges completely.

He hinged his position on the fact that Nigeria is pursuing a policy of promoting broadband penetration.

He said: “I believe that government should focus on providCONTINUED ON PAGE 33

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Enhancing ICT growth via apt Right of Way charges

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Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Jonah Iboma 08050498516

Centenary awards and ICT growth C

hairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. (GCON), was one of the 100 distinguished Nigerians recently honoured by President Goodluck Jonathan during Nigeria’s centenary celebrations.

Adenuga was bestowed with the prestigious award in the category of ‘Accomplished Contemporary Entrepreneurs.’

Although government hinged its awards on Adenuga’s general entrepreneurial excellence, much of this is actually due to his work with Globacom, Nigeria’s only wholly owned mobile network operator.

Probably, a few Nigerians actually new much about Adenuga prior to his exploits in the telecommunications industry, although he had proven himself as a entrepreneur per excellence in the banking and oil and gas sectors. So, it is safe to state that Adenuga’s contribution to ICT development in Nigeria is what actually put his name on the list of centenary awardees.

By this, one can state that there are other Nigerians that could have made the list but were not included due to the limited work they had done on the ICT space.

But the lesson that probably should be learnt from the award is that Adenuga’s achievements show what is possible if Nigerians make meaningful investment in the ICT industry. Many global economic leaders have, in recent years, achieved their wealth in the ICT sector. The list includes, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and many more.

It is important to state that ICT today represents a huge and untapped goldmine yawning for investment in Nigeria.

Given that Adenuga decided to vigorously pursue a digital mobile licence right from the late 1990’s till he eventually secured it in 2003, show that he had great understanding of the telecommunications sector than any Nigerian then. This is indeed very CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

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business | ICT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

NIMC kicks-off mobile enrolment REGISTRATION Nigerians set to get easy access to register for National Identity Numbers.

Stories: Jonah Iboma

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he National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has kicked-off mobile enrolment of National Identity Number in the Federal Capital Territory with pilot enrolment exercise targeted at major markets, shopping Plazas, villages, settlements and satellite towns.

According to information obtained by New Telegraph on Tuesday, the Director General of NIMC, Dr. Chris Onyemenam, said that NIMC will stop at nothing in ensuring that it captured all eligible Nigerians and legal residents wherever in Abuja and beyond once the exercise kicked off fully.

The NIN is similar to the United States of America’s Social Security Number. This is a set of numbers assigned to an individual by government as a means of tracking its citizens, temporary and permanent residents, for the purpose of work, taxation, government benefits, health care and other government related functions.

Onyemenam said that adequate arrangement had been made to provide mobile enrolment vans to go into villages, markets, shopping plazas, set-

TRAFFIC Electronic Tolling System receives a boost

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neCard Nigeria and Lekki Concession Company (LCC) have announced a partnership that will offer motorists registered with the latter’s eTag electronic toll collection device the opportunity to top-up their toll account through any of the three channels offered by OneCard.

OneCard, a fast moving consumer goods company, provides top-up solutions on multiple platforms through three channels, namely MyTopUp Nigeria, MyTopUp Business and Direct TopUp. MyTopUp Nigeria is a secure web (internet) platform, which is designed to enable top-up of all prepaid accounts at once, us-

tlements and other locations in capital city where the commission cannot readily set-up permanent NIN enrolment centres.

He said further that the Abuja mobile registration scheme would be extended to all other states in the federation as soon as the commission received the delivery of the remaining mobile enrolment vans.

The NIMC boss said that one of the characteristics of the mobile registration van is the fact that it is capable of moving on rough roads, adding that the commission was making arrangements to ensure that Nigerians resident in the creeks, riversides, camps and locations that are difficult to reach can be captured too.

He recalled that just a month ago, NIMC took delivery of DataCard personalisation machines and four mobile enrolment vans from a United States manufacturing company to achieve quick and effective enrolment exercise for Nigerians living both in urban and rural areas.

The Director General also informed that upon the arrival of the vans, the NIMC’s in-house technical services team installed the enrolment systems and other parameters in the vans and they have commenced enrolments. He explained that each of the van has two major compartments - the waiting room which can accommodate three persons at a time and the enrolment room which has four set of systems.

Meanwhile, NIMC is currently test-running the card personalisation machines preparatory to flag-off by President Goodluck Jonathan before the cards can be issued to Nigerians that have registered so far. He said NIMC appreciate the fact that Nigerians are very busy people and this informed the decision to bring the enrolment centres to Public places, urging therefore Nigerians to utilise the opportunity and enroll for their National Identification Number (NIN) It will be recalled that NIMC has been steadily recording increase in enrolment with a figure of 100,000 enrolments a day already achieved, according to information released by the commission recently.

Undersea cable being brought on land.

OneCard, Lekki Concession Company partner on e-tolling system ing debit or credit cards.

MyTopUp Business is a robust service designed for corporate customers that allows them to top-up bulk accounts simultaneously in a quick and secured manner.

The third service, Direct TopUp, is designed for retailers and it involves the use of branded mobile agents whose responsibility it will be to assist new and existing eTag customers to top-up their toll accounts.

The Chief Executive Officer, OneCard Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmad Baba, said that the partnership with Lekki Concession Company was another demonstration of the fact that

his company was innovating in a meaningful way.

“We believe that services should be about people and their convenience. Our offerings at OneCard have been designed to impact lives in a unique manner. We are excited to be part of the vision of transforming traffic management in Lagos by helping to reduce the challenges faced by road users in topping up their toll accounts. Therefore, we are pleased to be working with LCC in helping it to continue to deliver world class services to its customers.” he said.

The Head, Commercial, Lekki Concession Company, Charles Imevbore, said that

“the partnership with OneCard is designed to ease the process of topping-up toll accounts for the benefit and convenience of our eTag customers for a cheaper and faster access through the Lekki Toll Road plazas.

“Our objective is to provide high quality road infrastructure and related services to motorists and other stakeholders choosing to use the Lekki Toll Road. Hence, we believe our partnership with OneCard is well-timed and tailored to offer our discerning customers a stress-free alternative for topping up their eTag accounts in locations other than the toll plazas,” he said.

Etisalat, Ericsson in Networked Society collaboration

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Memorandum of Understanding for a new collaboration that will enable a highspeed, responsive network, laying the foundation for nextgeneration infrastructure for government activities and smart city initiatives has been signed by Etisalat and Ericsson.

The initiative is to ensure that high-speed broadband connectivity is fundamentally changing the way people live, interact and do business and help consumers to expect access to information, entertainment and businesses with faster speeds.

Through the partnership, Etisalat Group will launch trials of innovative Ericsson technologies such as LTE broadcast, Ericsson Radio Dot System, and Ericsson’s heterogeneous network solutions.

Chief Technology Officer at Etisalat Group, Mr. Hatem Bamatraf, said: “Over the years, Etisalat Group has demonstrated its ability to build and sustain the most advanced and innovative networks. “Conducting such innovative trials is only the first step. This will pave the way for further collaborations and the eventual delivery of more advanced, reliable and faster broadband access to users across the region,” he added.

Etisalat will jointly collaborate with Ericsson to roll out a mobile identity-based service and to explore opportunities for expanding these services across each of the countries Etisalat Group operates. Mobile identity is a key foundation for mgovernment, m-commerce and m-health services. The service allows subscribers to use their mobile identity securely via a one-click sign in, giving access to diverse applications, government services and websites, without the risk of being datamined by the various providers.

Together, Etisalat and Ericsson will support regional government initiatives with key enablers such as ubiquitous connectivity, citizen proximity, ease of access, and open platforms. The parties will work together to ensure that citizens have seamless access to services through the devices of their choice, without compromising on performance or user experience.

BUSINESS | ICT 33

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

E-MEDICARE Computers and Internet to ease how healthwokers do their jobs.

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ualcomm Incorporated, through its Wireless Reach initiative has announced a partnership to develop and deploy a wireless, electronic medical record (EMR) system to clinics under Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). The agency is a part of the Federal Ministry of Health.

The programme is being op-

Qualcomm plans electronic medical record system for Nigeria erated alongside Vecna Cares Charitable Trust, the non-profit arm of Vecna Technologies; InStrat Global Health Solutions, a turnkey health care solutions provider; Evidence for Action, a campaign to ensure Africa’s mothers and babies survive pregnancy and childbirth; and Etisalat, one of Nigeria’s telecommunications operators.

The project called

Swift Networks introduces portable wireless modem

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wift Networks has launched a portable, nomadic, personal wireless hotspot modem called “The Nomad” in continuation of its 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology which has tripled its capacity and speed.

According to the Chief Operating Officer, Swift Networks Limited, Mr. Chuma Okoye, the new modem is designed to offer existing and potential Swift 4G LTE customers the convenience to take with them the firm’s broadband connectivity anywhere within Lagos metropolis.

He noted that the modem fits perfectly in a pocket, briefcase, hand bag or in the car and as such is easy to move around with.

“We have introduced the Swift Nomad to enable our teeming customers in Lagos, in the first instance, to continue to access the fast and reliable Swift 4G LTE broadband service, not only at home or in the

office, but also on the go.

“The Nomad will only be available through our 4G LTE network, being the fastest wireless broadband technology available today, to ensure that only the best broadband speed is provided to our discerning customers,” he said.

Also speaking on the launch of the new modem, the Assistant General Manager, Consumer Sales and Marketing, Swift Networks Limited, Mr. Philip Sonibare, declared that the modem will be available to both existing and prospective customers on the 4G LTE network.

He said that current customers could add the modem to their current Swift 4G LTE account, drawing from the same data allowance on the same bill, adding that new customers will only need to set up a new account and can add it to other Swift 4G LTE modems they may have at home or the office on the same monthly data subscription and bill.

Enhancing ICT growth via apt Right of Way charges CONTINUED from PAGE 31

ing specifications for operators so that whosoever is interested in building either power or telecoms infrastructure will know what is required. Infrastructure companies already spend a lot of money on labour and there should be no need to put additional burden of payment of right of way charges.”

The Chief Executive Officer, MetroSculpters, Mr. Tunde Odusola, however said that the Federal Government should reduce the burden that states bear so that they will not have to resort to placing extra charges on

telecom operators.

According to him, “Fibre optic cable deployment is being held up in several states particularly over Right of Way (ROW) payments which have already been made to the Federal Government and this pushes the additional cost to the end users and makes the basic telecom services seem beyond the reach of the common man.”

He, however, applauded efforts by the minister to drive the timely changes, noting that they will serve as the cornerstone to dynamic standards development in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

CliniPAK360 will be bringing a paperless, mobile patient registry to midwives throughout rural Nigeria to help reduce the country’s high maternal and infant mortality rates. The World Factbook estimates that Nigeria experienced approximately 630 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010 and approximately 73 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. In comparison, the maternal death rate in developed countries is approximately nine per 100,000.

Currently, NPHCDA midwives record patient data in paper notebooks and Regional Health Officers travel to the clinics to review the reports for accuracy. To lighten this burden and increase accuracies and efficiencies, this Wireless Reach-funded project features a cloud-based electronic medical record system based on Vecna Cares’ CliniPAK software and 3G-enabled tablets powered by

Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processors to streamline and automate the in-field data capture and reporting process and help improve health outcomes.

Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies Incorporated, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.

As part of the project, each midwife uses a tablet to record patient data at the point of care.

The data is transmitted wirelessly via Etisalat’s 3G mobile network to the CliniPAK central server, which aggregates and synchronises the data with clinic-based CliniPAK units.

The system supports midwives as they interact with patients by alerting them to risk factors and red flags based on information assembled at the point of care. The system also allows clinicians and midwives to more closely track at-risk patients and make timely, more

informed, decisions about patient care.

In addition, policy leaders at NPHCDA will also have access to the data and use the pilot project to establish the foundation for their entire medical record system.

The project’s pilot phase is currently underway in seven NPHCDA clinics in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). InStrat Global Health Solutions serves as the local program manager with responsibility for technology implementation, training and support, and has closely monitored the evolution of the project while also preparing to implement the project in two additional states in February.

The goal of this program is to improve health outcomes, reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, enable faster response to public health threats and facilitate better coordination of health resources.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Occupational Health and Safety Managers, Ehi Iden; Executive Vice President, Credit Bureau Services, Jameelah Ayedun; Managing Director, Easy Bees Dress, Tasala Osinowo and Group Chief Executive Officer, Poise Nigeria, Mavi Isibor, during Poise Nigeria Professionalism Seminar, held at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

Centenary awards and ICT growth CONTINUED from PAGE 31

commendable and shows that he was a man of great vision.

However, there are other opportunities that are emerging today in the ICT that require visionary people like Adenuga and visionary Nigerians must identify such opportunities and tap into them.

Nigerian investors must look at these possible areas and put in their money like Adenuga started over a decade ago and

put this country on the global economic map once again.

Aside individual investment, there is the need for government to support local ICT initiatives with proper funding. Often, Nigerian ideas fail to fly due to the absence of local support to ensure that they succeed.

There are many promising Nigerian IT initiatives that are making waves globally despite the fact that the support from home is limited.

Examples are what electronic commerce sites such as Konga .com, Jumia.com and DealDay. com are doing. Even new video companies like Kuluya are setting the stage for what is possible in support can come for local ICT business initiatives.

It is on the basis of this that I will call on Adenuga to support the growth of the local IT industry further by funding for young Nigerians that have good ideas that can be further developed.

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Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Skilled workforce on duty.

Nation’s hunt for skilled workforce In those days, Nigeria had levels of training for technical hands. We had trade centres and technical schools – all functioning. But the reverse is the case now, writes SIAKA MOMOH.

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he point has been made severally by employers of labour, including industry stakeholders, that apart from the problem of weak infrastructure, Nigeria has one critical problem – dearth of skilled workforce.

The tertiary institutions have received knocks for churning out half-baked graduates. On the other hand, teachers blame government for not equipping the schools adequately. Some blame the education system planners.

With all these, it is clear that there is no strategic workforce plan for the country. A strategic workforce plan will take care of all problems related to the issue at hand if such plan is honestly executed.

Cosmas Maduka, a frontline Nigerian automobile merchant, will tell you how he depends on Ghana for supply technicians for his automobile business. At the last call, he hired 80 auto-technicians from Ghana because he could not find the quality of technicians he needed in Nigeria. Blue-chip companies across the country are in dear need of technicians.

Nigeria had levels of training for technical hands. We had trade centres; we had technical schools – all functioning. But the reverse is the case now. The trade centres are no more while the technical schools are poorly equipped.

Ditto for polytechnics and engineering departments of universities. These have spaces to fill in the industries.

But along the line, because of lack of planning, we underplay the training of low-level manpower and concentrate on the training of engineers – theoretical engineers - who do not find spaces for industrial attachments. Industries reject most of them.

Middle-level technical hands The industry needs them, perhaps

HEADACHE Weak infrastructure, multiple taxation bane of Nigerian industrial sector.

Siaka Momoh

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eak infrastructure is the bane of the Nigerian economy. The group notes this clearly. It notes that in the first quarter of 2013, electricity generation fell by 3.1 per cent compared to the previous quarter and that this reduced the index of industrial production by 0.9 per cent, citing the Central bank of Nigeria as its source.

It notes that about 5000 MW, Nigeria’s installed generation capacity, is

more than they need engineers. The manufacturing industry and the telecommunication sector also need them. And the power sector, which is currently going private, needs a lot of them too. If we do not have a rethink and plan well, we must be ready for the looming disaster.

A recent encounter with Olumide Akinjo, director of the International Industrial Institute (IIT), Isheri, Lagos, sheds light on this problem. IIT is 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 practical skills training to Nigerian youths and adults mainly from the lower income stratum.

Its graduates are hot cakes to blue chip companies. But the school has limitations. It can only take in a few students because of its limited resource.

Said Akinjo: Up to 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. So, that way, it is sustainable.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

How Nigeria's industrial sector is faring well below the country’s power demands. “On par with a small European city and with less than the supply available to New York City, Nigeria’s limited power grid is the largest constraint to industrial growth in the view of most manufacturers. Generating reliable power through diesel generators adds about 30 per cent to operating costs for local industry,” it says.

OBG is right, very right. Look at this: South Africa with a population of 51.19 million (2012 population) has 40,000 MW installed capacity and plans

to double this by 2025. Brazil with a population of 198.6 million (2012), has 121,000 MW installed capacity. Nigeria’s population (2012) is 168.8 million.

Manufacturing companies currently prefer being on diesel generators because intermittent disruption of power from public power supply will damage products on production line.

There is also talk of congested ports, poor road network, supplying and sanitising water, all of which present extra costs to Nigeria producers. The CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

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Thursday, March 13, 2014

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Nation’s hunt for skilled workforce CONTINUED from PAGE 34

We have about 24 students in a class, but recently we really looked at it and told ourselves that we should scale up because consistently, industries keep asking for more and we are unable to meet demand.

So, we decided to grow the number. Last year, we did two classes, this year we are taking three and next year, we want to grow to four classes. We are therefore looking at a figure under 100.

“The institute’s approach is multi-disciplinary because when we did a survey of the needs of the industry, we found it needed someone who could trouble-shoot, maintain, install in 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,” he said. So the institute’s focus is Electro-mechanics, which covers aspects of Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Industrial Automation. It gives the students a broad base.

CBN’s entrepreneurship centres Dearth of skilled manpower is a serious challenge that cuts across all sectors in Nigeria.

Small enterprises have their own share too. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) once identified dearth of skill among operators in the micro-enterprise sub-sector as one obstacle holding back the sector. The apex bank believes that the issue of skill is the key to whole programme of lifting people up. It therefore embarked on a drive to set up entrepreneurship development centres across the country. The centres are located in Lagos, Kano and Onitsha.

The CBN’s move comple-

ments the drives of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agencies (SMEDAN), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Fate Foundation and several others, to build capacity in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sub-sector. The programme at the centres are for two classes of people – those with school certificate who spend about eight weeks, and also young university graduates who spend four weeks.

Micro enterprises make

you do not need just someone who is a mechanic or an electrician; you need someone who can cross boundaries

Youths yawning for skill acquisition

an important contribution to economic output and employment in developing economies.

While estimates vary greatly depending on definitions, recent work by the World Bank suggests that almost 30 per cent of employment in low-income countries is generated by the informal economy, while an additional 18 per cent is provided by (formal) small and medium enterprises. Together, these two groups contribute 63 per cent of the GDP. Fate Foundation’s drive Fate Foundation, in the past 12 years, has excelled in this drive of growing entrepreneurs, small enterprises in particular.

The institution has been imparting business management and entrepreneurial training to Nigerians with the aim of fostering wealth creation to tackle poverty and equipping enterprising Nigerians with skills, tools and networks. Not less than 2,491 entrepreneurs have graduated from Fate Aspiring Entrepreneurs Programme and 24,457 trained persons from the Fate Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme at the half-day workshops and special workshops, and have reached out to over 48,160 youths on the subject of entrepreneurship.

Historical business development initiatives in Nigeria have either been championed by government or international agencies.

However, Fate is a private sector-led initiative, created and funded by Nigerians who are concerned about the poor state of the nation. Most training programmes offered by organisations in urban Nigeria

are cost-prohibitive because they rely on “career trainers.”

In addition, they are often theoretical and sometimes prove ineffective when applied in the nation’s harsh economic terrain. But since Fate relies on volunteer instructors, mentors, and consultants, it is able to minimise its costs structure, while providing “world-class” training to individuals who ordinarily would not have been able to afford it. In addition, its primary reliance on local entrepreneurs and mentors as opposed to “full-time trainers” ensures that the instruction and support provided via Fate is realistic, dynamic and relevant.

Challenges There are many barriers hindering citizens from fully realising their potentials and assuming entrepreneurial position in the society.

Longmas Wapmuk, director-general/CEO, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), listed them at a media interactive session in Abuja. The first one is inadequate education.

He argued that a consensus has emerged that the education sector in Nigeria is in dire need of reform because it has failed to produce workers with the right skills and aptitudes needed in the economy.

Said he: “It would seem that government is doing a lot, most of it is still in the realm of policy statements.

Not much is being done in practice. For instance, the new curriculum of higher institutions has included entrepreneurship as a general course for all students, which is a good development.

How Nigeria's industrial sector is faring CONTINUED from PAGE 34

OBG cites a 2008 survey of 124 Nigerian manufacturers

by UN Industry Development Organisation (UNIDO), which found that about 60 per cent of respondents cited physical infrastructure as the biggest challenge facing their business. The survey, according to the group, states that about 70 per cent of respondents cited power shortage as the primary cause of their idle capacity.

It states that there is hope in the horizon, citing the ongoing privatisation exercise in the power sector – investments by transmission companies

and distribution companies.

Fiscal constraints The group notes that price of finance and the country’s multi-taxation regime adds to high operating costs of manufacturers. Access to credit is the second biggest challenge to local production, the group says, citing the same 2008 UNIDO survey.

It notes: “While blue-chip firms may be able to access slightly more competitive rates, commercial lending rates in Nigeria go as high as 23-24 per cent, stifling expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises, and forcing successful busi-

ness to find alternative routes to capital.

Supply chain challenges It notes that local raw materials have high production costs and legally imported raw mate-

Mechanised agriculture is often under emphasised relative to fertiliser needs. There is a strong need for local manufacture of tractors

rials face high tariffs. Most imports, according to the group, are not available locally. PZ Cussons for instance, it says, imports about 80 per cent of inputs for its consumer and white goods.

This has to be because our four refineries are down and industries option is to import petrochemicals. Big problem.

The group notes that the country’s textile declined with agriculture and local cotton is no longer available. So the door has thus been thrown open to the Chinese who now run retail shops in Nigeria! It adds that leather from Nigeria is exported, refined abroad, and then imported at a premium for local

use. This writer can cite the story of a Nigerian leather trader whom he travelled with to Brazil in August last year. He travelled to Brazil in search of leather. It was a bad trip for him because he could not get to buy at the price and quantity he required.

The group notes that in some cases, manufacturing needs are trumped up by other interests.

It cites Didi Ndiomu, boss of Nigeria Machine & Tool as saying: “Mechanised agriculture is often under emphasised relative to fertiliser needs. There is a strong need for local manufacture of tractors – tractors that can work in this environment and climate.”

36

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

CAPITAL Myriad of sources exist, but it is tasking knowing which to choose from.

Tunji Afunwape

L

ooking for funding to start your business can be a herculean task, especially if you don’t know the right source. Many sources of fund exist, but the one to choose will depend on a variety of factors.

Friends and relatives If they believe in you and your idea, friends and relatives are sometimes willing to fund you. Choose this route with care and ensure you execute a formal loan document stating loan terms (interest, terms of repayment) Life insurance Some types of life insurance policies have cash value, which can be borrowed at very low interest. You are not obligated to pay this money back but if you don’t your policy payout is reduced by the amount borrowed Leasing Unlike loan, leasing is like long-term rental. At the end of the lease, you don’t automatically own the asset; you have the option to buy it at its residual value. A lease requires little or no money down and is an alternative to purchasing such item as cars, machinery or office equipment. By leasing instead of buying, your business can usually write off the monthly lease expenses

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

How SMEs can be funded (1) Approaching moneylenders This form of lending is very popular and vital to small business development. A lender incurs risk and charges a corresponding rate of interest based on that risk. The lender usually assesses a variety of factors such as the strength of your business plan, and your personal credit history. In Nigeria, many people have set up this type of business venture, the payback period does not always exceed 12 months, and they receive collateral like cars, CofO’s radio or TVsets, among others.

Poverty Eradication Scheme The Federal Government is collaborating in certain areas, especially poverty alleviation.

You can kick-start your business with these varying opportunities NAPEP has to offer. Development centers are created in different parts of the country where people are trained in different vocations like catering, hair dressing, shoe-making, fashion designing, and mechanical engineering. They all fall under Capacity Acquisition Programme (CAP). At the development centres, they supply items like computers, sewing machines and dryers among others, resettle them by giving them a start-off loan so that they will become employers of labour.

Going Public Once again, this option is available primarily to fast-

growth companies. This is when you offer and sell equity interests in the company (e.g. shares) through a stock exchange or broker network. Going public involves a rigorous process of regulatory compliance and promotion.

Joining a Cooperative Society They are micro finance institutions and they have existed in Nigeria since 1935. They form themselves into trade union associations. Almost all the corporate organisations in Nigeria has a cooperative society and their existence have been

beneficial to all members as they provide emergency loans with little interest rates, members can also collect this loan to start a small business which will provide an alternative source of income. They do have periodic meeting to discuss the financial status of the association.

Honeywell harps on entrepreneurship H oneywell Flour Mills Plc, maker of Honeywell noodles, says its support for entrepreneurship remains unwavering as it recently empowered about 40 indigent women with products and equipment as start-up capital.

Donating the products to the beneficiaries in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last week, during the just concluded Internation-

al Women’s Day celebration, Executive Director Marketing, Mr. Benson Evbuomwan, said that women are very key in a family as empowering them means empowering the whole family.

Describing women as good managers, he said that he was sure they will make good use of the opportunity provided them to turn around the capital for good. Items giving as

revolving capital include sewing machines, electricity generating sets, deep freezers, plastic chairs and tables, jumbo umbrellas and Honeywell products.

One of the beneficiaries, a widow, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Adesegun, thanked Honeywell for the opportunity, promising to be very prudent in managing the resources for her to remain in business.

Enterprise advisory

Deciding if entrepreneurship is right for you RISK You should be willing to jump off the cliff and figure out how to fly on the way down.

S

tarting a business is a lot like becoming a parent. Not only do you have to prepare for your start-up emotionally and financially, you have to be committed to its constant needs until it’s mature enough to hum along on its own. And even then (much like a child) it will always need you in some capacity, no matter how old it gets.

Here are five questions to ask before you start your own business:

1. Am I passionate about my product or service? Let’s face it: the start-up phase is stressful. You will find yourself

questioning whether you’ve made the right decision, especially when the hours are long and the initial profits (if

any) are lean. As the business owner, you’re also chief salesperson for your company. Your enthusiasm for your product or service— whether it’s handknit sweaters or top-notch tax preparation— is often the difference that hooks customers, lands deals and attracts investors. It’s unwise to start down the path of entrepreneurship unless you’ve got a zeal that will get you through rough patches and keep you interested long after the initial enthusiasm has faded.

2. What is my tolerance for risk? Whether it’s quitting your day job or signing a lease on a new space, nothing about starting a business is for the faint of heart. Just ask Ina Garten, who bought

a specialty-foods store called The Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton, New York, in 1978 and has since branched out into cookbooks, television and a line of products. Garten tells aspiring entrepreneurs that you have to “be willing to jump off the cliff and figure out how to fly on the way down.” Even with enough passion to launch a thousand ventures, you could find any number of circumstances hastening your failure: a location that turns out to be less than ideal, a problem with city or state zoning boards or a kink in the supply chain that can’t easily be ironed out. There’s no guarantee of success, or CONTINUED ON PAGE37

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

DEMAND With the present pace of industrial development, there is a rising demand for bolts and nuts.

Don Abraham

A

bolt is a metal bar that is usually cylindrical in shape and screwed at the outer end to take a nut.

Although a bolt has a head that is in general practice usually hexagonal, its head can be designed to have heads such as round, counter sink head square neck, oval, elliptic etc.

Bolts are of various types such as tap, coupling, eye, lifting, square head, carriage, Uclosed anchor ring eye-ball.

When used with a nut, a bolt forms a commonest and fastest way of having two or more parts joined temporarily or permanently. The nut, on the other hand, forms part of the screwed pair. It has an internal thread and because it act as a fastening in machine construction, is fixed. The nut then moves axially as it is rotated.

Just as the bolts, there are different types of nuts. These include the square, wing, slotted ring, cap, hexagonal, castle, wing, flanged and knurled.

Market for bolts and nuts: With the present pace of industrial development, there is a rising demand for bolts and nuts in the furniture making outfits, bed manufacturing, metal fabrication, motor vehicle and other automotive industrial sub-sectors, etc. Look around you and you will see bolts and nuts in use in many manufactured articles.

37

Investment opportunity

How to invest in bolts and nuts manufacturing Raw materials: The major raw materials needed by this industry are steel rods and pickling chemicals and they are all locally available in the local market.

Machinery and equipment: These are made up of automatic double-stroke cold heading machine, automatic horizontal slotting machine, automatic bold pointing machine, automatic nut-forming machine, automatic bold head trimming machine, automatic thread rolling machine, automatic heat treatment machine, automatic nut tapping machine, tumbling machine, and other accessories.

Production technology: Generally, bolts and nuts are formed by cold forging, hot forging and machining processes. However for special bolts and nuts, more than process is used. Here only cold forging process is discussed.

To make nuts, steel rod is fed to automatic nut forming machine. The semi-finished nuts are passed through the tapping machine to form the internal thread and normalising follows in order to release the internal stress formed in the body of these nuts.

In making bolts, the steel rod is fed to the double stroke cold header machine followed by the machining of the bolt head to any shape desired for the bolt (square, hexagonal) by using the bolt head trim-

mer. After this, the bolt ends are chamfered by the bolt head slotting machine.

Location: The business can be located anywhere in the country provided that steel rods can easily be transported there.

Funding structure: Generally, this will be a combination of equity contribution, term loan and overdraft, but it is expected that the investor9S0 should be able to fund not less than 20 per cent of the total project cost.

The term loan, which is expected to be sourced at the prevailing commercial interest, could be repaid in three years

while the bank overdraft could be repaid during the first year of commencing commercial operation. One can also consider leasing the equipment as an alternative source of finance.

Project cost: The total cost of the project will depend on the scale of operations to be embarked upon by the promoter(s), the source of the equipment and accessories and the part of the country where the project will be located. This total cost will comprise of utilities, machinery and equipment, pre-operation expenses, office furniture and equipment, working capital and contingency.

Recommendation: The basic raw material inputs are locally available and their steady supply assured.

Also from the market outlook above, there is ample local market waiting to be satisfied, as a recent market survey by our research team has revealed.

The local manufacture of these products will contribute to the national objective of industrial development and technology acquisition, promote self-reliance and save the country huge sums of foreign exchange being expended annually on their importation.

DON ABRAHAM can be contacted through letustalkwealth@yahoo.com.

Bolts and nuts

Deciding if entrepreneurship is right for you CONTINUED from PAGE 36

even a steady paycheck. If you’re risk-averse, entrepreneurship probably isn’t the right path for you.

3. Am I good at making decisions? No one else is going to make them for you when you own your own business. Consider how you might handle these early decisions: Do I work from home or do I lease office space? Do I hire employees? Do I pursue high-end clients or sell to the masses?

Do I incorporate? Do I advertise? Do I borrow money from friends or family? Do I use my

entire savings? Keep in mind that the decision-making process only gets more complicated as time goes on, once you have employees or clients depending on you. The choices you make can lead to success or downfall, so you must feel confident in your ability to make the right call.

4. Am I willing to take on numerous responsibilities?

While a corporate employee focuses on a special skill or role within the larger corporation, a business owner must contribute everything to the business. Solo entrepreneurs in particular must be versatile

and play a number of roles, from chief salesperson and bookkeeper to head marketer and bill collector. If juggling many roles doesn’t suit you, entrepreneurship probably won’t, either. The recent economic downturn has made it more important than ever for business owners to have a good working knowledge of their companies’ finances.

While you will undoubtedly learn much on this topic from getting your hands dirty, the more knowledge you have in advance, the better prepared you’ll be.

5. Will I be able to avoid

burnout? Working seven days a week, losing touch with friends, abandoning old hobbies and interests and not making time for loved ones can quickly lead to burnout in the midst of starting up— and ultimately to business failure. That’s what happened to James Zimbardi, an entrepreneur in Orlando, Florida, who says he didn’t know any better when he started his first company in 1997 and worked as hard as possible, for as long as possible, until his creativity, enthusiasm and energy were sapped. By 2002, he was a broken man - the business took a

downturn, and so did his personal life. Now Zimbardi is at work on his second company, Allgen Financial Services, and sticking to better habits to maintain work/life balance, such as not working on Sundays, making time for hobbies such as sailing and salsa dancing, and building close ties with other business owners through a faith-based support network.

Take some time to mull over these questions, do some soulsearching, and then if you think you have what it takes, go for it.

Source: Wall Street Journal

38 NEWS

Monday, February 17 - Thursday, Friday, February 21, 2014 2014 March 13,

FEATURES

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES EDITOR

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014

Lagos residents and the anti-smoking law Some people have embraced the anti-smoking law in Lagos State but others are calling for its revocation, writes ELIJAH SAMUEL

T

he health hazards associated with smoking are legion.

But to dissuade those indulging in smoking, there have been sustained campaigns highlighting the risks, health, social, economic, etc, inherent in it.

Yet, to some smokers, life, it seems, is inconsequential.

It would probably have been no concerns to the larger public if smokers have to face the consequences of their act all alone.

But several innocent people have been made passive smokers, secondhand smokers.

Thus, the numerous smoking-related ailments affecting a significant number of the citizenry have been a cause for great worry.

The Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola recently signed into law a bill banning smoking in public places across the state.

The law, which prohibits anybody from smoking in all public places including libraries, museums, public toilets, schools, hospitals, day care centres, public transportation and restaurants among others, consists of 16 sections.

The new law shows the seriousness of the government to implement the law wholesale, as almost all the stakeholders in the distribution and consumption of tobacco are expected to play some roles which will ensure its success.

But the law was greeted with mixed reactions.

The Chief Executive Officer of Faith Medical Laboratories, Wale Babatunde, said the law was in order because of the health and social implications of smoking to the public.

He said: “Apart from the smokers themselves, the other members of the public are generally affected.

“From the social perspective, the youthful exuberance that most of the youths go into smoking while watching the public smoke would have been curbed. They would be barred from joining the fray with the full implementation of this law.”

Alhaji Salisu, a trader in Surulere expressed pleasure at the change which the enactment of anti-public smoking law is expected to enthrone in the metropolis.

He said: “I am happy that smoking in the public is fast disappearing in the streets. I don’t like smoking because it affects not only the smokers.”

A resident of Mushin, Alhaji Kamar

Abdullahi Bulala, expressed satisfaction with the new law and the inherent benefits to the citizens.

He said: “I give kudos to Fashola for making this law. It is for the good of all, so let us support the government. But we can protest obnoxious policies which infringe on our rights.”

But the passage and signing into law of the bill did not go down well with some of the Lagos residents.

One of them, who identified herself simply as Titilayo, expressed displeasure over the law.

Titilayo, who trades in cigarettes and local gin popularly called paraga, said the business was the only source of survival for her and her four children since her husband died.

“I have observed that many of my customers have deserted my shop recently. So, I found out what the problem was, only to discover that it was the state government that was behind the misfortune,” she said.

However, Chief Dike Nelson, a hotelier in Isolo area of the metropolis, expressed support for the law.

Nelson said the implementation of the law would not impact his business.

He said: “I know many people in this business will be intensely displeased with the government for a law like this but we should not be self-centred because the law is for the safety of all citizens.

“It did not come as a surprise so, I was not caught unawares. There is a reserved area for smokers in our hotel, and smoking has been restricted to that section.

“I support this law because I know the havoc smoking does to the human body and we must commend the Lagos State Government for taking such a good step.

Smoking is even more harmful to nonsmokers than the smokers.

“Although smokers have the right to smoke, it is not reasonable if that right is harmful to others. Obviously, if people smoke in public places, non-smokers have no choice but to become secondhand smokers. Also, smoking is a cause of pollution.”

Retailers of various brands of cigarettes and majority of the public have acknowledged the gradual but steady impact of the new law which has seen a slight drop in sales of cigarette and smoking in the public over the last couple of weeks.

Mallam Danbaba, a popular cigarette seller in Yaba area of the metropolis, said the ban had led to a drastic reduction in sales for him.

Fashola

Sticks of cigarettes

Support this law because I know the havoc smoking does to the human body and we must commend the Lagos State Government for taking such a good step Danbaba argued that people immediately reacted to passage of the bill.

He said: “The ban on public smoking has led to a drop in our sales. Before now, I used to sell between 20 and 25 packets of cigarettes a day, but now it hovers between 10 and 12 packets.”

According to the law, the offenders shall attract N100,000 or six months imprisonment, or other noncustodial punishments that the judge may deem fit.

The law also seeks to punish anyone who smokes in front of a child with a fine of N15,000 or six.

It also states that the penalty for smoking in a “no-smoking area” will be N10,000 fine or imprisonment for a term

A smoker

not less than one month and not exceeding three months or both.

Also, any person who repeatedly violates the provisions shall on conviction be liable to a fine of N50,000 or six months imprisonment or both.

The law also directs corporate organisations to place the ‘No Smoking’ sign in their premises. Companies who default would pay a fine of N250,000.

The law also states the penalty for non-compliance by owner/occupier of a “no-smoking area.” The offence shall attract N100,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or other noncustodial punishments that the judge may deem fit.

It will also be an offence to obstruct a duly authorised officer from carrying out his duties under the provision of this law.

It, however, remains to be seen how the new law will be fully implemented, and in the meantime, how the tempo of the success of the new law will be sustained by the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

This is because some people are still oblivious of the law.

“My customers are still coming to smoke here. I have not even heard of the law before. Let government allow us to do our business peacefully,” Rebecca, a local bar and restaurant operator said.

Also reacting to the law, Madam Onome, who sells gin and tobacco at a local park in Lagos said, “we know there is a new law in place, but our customers still come to buy cigarettes. We are still doing our business as usual.”

But some sellers have decided to quit the cigarettes business to avoid the wrath of the law when its implementation.

Another seller, who gave his name as Akpan, said he would rather avoid trouble by stopping the sale of cigarettes.

He said: “I have stopped selling cigarettes entirely. I don’t want to get into police trouble when the law eventually takes effect. Moreover, the profit we make on a packet is just N10.”

40 FEATURES

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Edo: Muscle flexing over teachers’ competence test Opposition against and support for proposed assessment test for teachers creating tension in Edo State, writes CAJETAN MMUTA

L

ike the late literary icon, Chinua Achebe, wrote in his book: ‘Things Fall Apart,’ the centre seems unable to hold again in Edo State.

This is because of the raging war between Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and civil servants.

The teachers and civil servants have in the past one month accused the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led government of ploy to embark on mass sack without due compensation after many years in service.

Therefore, the teachers and other civil servants are up in arms against the government.

The administration set up a body comprising officers of the state Information Communication Technology (ICT) with the mandate to verify all the activities and claims of workers such as the teachers, judiciary, health workers and civil servants. This is to uncover fraud and illegal activities as well as avoid leakages in government.

The body has uncovered stealing and official excesses. The list of those involved is said to be in a secret file of the state Head of Service, waiting sack order.

Rumours were rife last month when the names of those affected in the alleged planned mass sack leaked to families and associates.

Investigation showed that among those listed are about 926 teachers which the state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) claimed were pencilled for sacked as against 863 initially announced by the government last year.

The teachers whose fate has become subject of debate and controversy were found to have over-stayed in service, mentally unstable, blind or falsified their ages and credentials.

However, some teachers alleged that they learnt about their rumoured listing for sack when their names were discovered missing from last December’s salary voucher and till date.

While the fire of the mass sack raged, there were also concerns among civil servants about reports three weeks ago that over 1,800 of them have been marked for sack.

According to investigation, the ICT officials carried out an authentication exercise on the relevant certificates, identities and other documents submitted by the workers on their employment.

The workers, teachers and government are locked in a battle of wits over Oshiomhole’s onslaught just about two years to the end of his tenure.

This fear stems from the fact that majority of the teachers were foisted on

Oshiomhole

Ademokun

Traditional rulers at the town hall meeting

the government by party leaders during empowerment processes.

But the governor had dialogued with the leadership of the NUT at five separate meetings in conjunction with the civil society groups, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders.

However, the meetings failed because the teachers refused to sit for competency test proposed by the government.

A few weeks ago, the government called a Town Hall meeting at the Imaguero College in Benin where all the issues affecting the education sector, including the welfare of teachers and workers, were discussed.

At the gathering, Oshiomhole denied the touted mass sack. The assurance doused the tension.

He, however, said measures to rid the system of dead-woods were on, but no one has been sacked.

At the meeting, there was an overwhelming endorsement by stakeholders that the teachers must write the proposed competency test otherwise called assessment test.

It was noteworthy that the NUT members and leadership did not argue their case at the meeting.

In a widely circulated radio announcement, days before the meeting, the NUT leadership had directed its members not to attend the gathering, which it earlier said was designed to witch hunt teachers.

But while denying claim that his administration plans to sack about 3,000

civil servants, Oshiomhole said there was no iota of truth in it.

He said: “It is true we have done verification in the health sector, civil service and others, which puts a lie to the claims by teachers that they are being targeted and are the only ones asked to do verification, and we discovered some civil servants who are using their children’s certificates or their brothers’ certificates.

The governor disclosed plans to train and retrain teachers.

He said: “But for us to design the appropriate retraining programme for teachers; you must access their competence level to get the kind of training they require. You can’t prescribe without knowing the problem.”

In attendance were members of the Benin Forum, Afemai Forum, Esan Forum, civil society groups, traditional rulers, educationists, trade union bodies, youth and support groups, market women and traders, APC leaders, NGOs, among others.

Speakers pledged their support for government’s plan for the teachers to write the assessment test. The people unanimously urged the governor to not only conduct the exercise but also to sack all erring teachers who refuse to write the test.

In his contribution, former Vice Councillor of the state-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Prof. Dennis Agbonlahor, described the rot in the education sector, particularly, at the primary and secondary levels as a terrible one which posed serious challenge to sound

learning at the tertiary level.

The Otaru of Auchi, HRH Alhaji Haliru Momoh, the Ikelebe II, said parents must be blamed for the rot in the education sector.

He said: “Parents are encouraging their children not to buy into discipline and morals in the society. We must do what is the truth; we must start from the beginning.”

The Onojie of Opoji, His Royal Highness, Ehidiamen 1, urged the government not compromise in sanitising the education sector.

Also the Onojie of Igueben, HRH Ehizogie Eluojierior I, commended the governor for initiating the competency test to assess the suitability of teachers.

He said: “I do not see why a teacher should be afraid to face simple assessment. Those who are not qualified to teach our children should be thrown out of the system. I think you are doing the right thing and need our support.”

In his remark, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri said, “we fully endorse all you are doing in regard to the competency test.

“What the governor has been saying is in the interest of the people. He has the right to protect the interest of the Edo people. So far, you have not done anything wrong in this enterprise.

“After the incident of the lady who couldn’t read her own affidavit, what has the NUT done to do an in-house cleaning to weed out incompetent teachers from its midst?”

The spokesperson of the market women, Mrs Blackie Omoregie, also commended the government.

She said: “Teachers who teach our children test them at the end of the term to determine those that can be promoted. The police also do tests before promotion, why are the teachers refusing to do the test.”

In his reaction, the state NLC Chairman, Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun, told journalists that the labour unions were not aware of the sack of any of the workers.

He said: “So far no worker has been sacked; government is verifying credentials of its workers which started with teachers. About 926 teachers falsified their age and did not possess their primary school certificates.”

But leaders of the workers unions have knocked the government over the teachers’ competence test.

The leaders of the labour unions at the end of their enlarged State Working Committee (SEC) meeting in Benin declared their support for the teachers over the refusal to write the contentious test.

In a communiqué jointly signed by leaders of the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), the unions urged the government to pay the primary school teachers, not later than March 31, the arrears of balance of 10.5 per cent teachers’ special allowance, TSA, which prompted them to embark on strike last year.

HEALTH

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THURSday, March 13, 2014

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Imo healthcare: Need to upgrade FMC Owerri Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, has gone through nearly 100 years of metamorphosis to be what it is today. It may be upgraded to a teaching hospital, writes Steve Uzoechi

O

n February 22, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan visited Imo state and was hosted to what is now popularly known as the ‘Unity Rally’. Amid the avalanche of speeches and political oratory that characterised the event, the request of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, an elder statesman, seems to have stirred a major advocacy in the health sector of the state.

Iwuanyanwu had, among other things, requested in very clear terms the upgrading of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, to a teaching hospital.

What may have been misconstrued as a mere political manoeuvre has become a major talking point among different strata of professionals in the health sector of Imo State.

Investigations by NT Health reveal that what is today known as Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, has gone through nearly 100 years of metamorphosis to be what it is today. From a colonial hospital, it became a war time medical facility and thereafter, transformed into a general hospital after Nigeria’s independence in 1960. In 1994, it became the FMC, Owerri and was taken over by the Federal Government as a specialist hospital, a research facility and today seems to have exceeded its mandate in healthcare delivery in Imo State.

A visit to FMC, Owerri by NT Health shows that as early as 6.00am, patients from across the state were already crowding the hospital premises; taking numbers from hospital attendants to ensure that they get attention from the doctors in order of their arrival.

By 10am when NT Health arrived the Family Medicine Section of the hospital, the area was literally swarming with patients and one of them who mistook our correspondent for a patient said: “Are you

Gate into FMC Owerri. Inset Medical Director, Dr. Angela Uwakwem

sure you will see a doctor today with this crowd here? Sometime ago I came here by 9.30am and I was only able to see a doctor by around 4.30pm. The crowd here is just frustrating. I have been here since 7am and my number is 176. Anyway, try your luck.”

The young man who simply gave his name as Ben and works in an asphalt plant further explained that the crowd at the FMC was a regular scene.

Further investigations at the centre indicate apparent inadequacies in the primary and secondary health sub-sectors in the state as cause for the daily rush of patients to FMC. In many areas and communities in the

We have a system where there is near total collapse in the primary and secondary health systems in the state and at the slightest itching, patients dash to the FMC, Owerri, from all corners of the state

state, health centres and general hospitals are believed to be performing far below expected capacities, thus forcing patients to migrate from villages and nearby towns to the state capital for health services they can trust. Most times, the FMC, Owerri is their choice destination.

A management staff at the centre had this to say, “You have no business leaving your village in Ideato North for instance, to come to FMC Owerri to treat malaria.

What is the health centre for? What is the general hospital for? As a matter of fact, general hospitals can even handle some level of surgery, but we have a system where there is near total collapse in the primary and secondary health systems in the state and at the slightest itching, patients dash to the FMC, Owerri from all corners of the state, forcing the FMC to handle primary, secondary and tertiary health services. This exerts enormous pressures on our staff and facilities.”

Dr. B.C. Okorochukwu, a consultant at the centre is of the opinion that upgrading the FMC, Owerri to a Teaching Hospital, would be in the best interest of healthcare service delivery in the state. According to the consultant, the FMC is pressured on all sides with the unrelenting surge of patients from far and near seeking quality

medical care. An upgrade would position the centre to better handle the pressures from patients and still be able to execute their mandate as a specialist and research centre.

“In spite of the expansion and size of the FMC, sometimes we run out of bed spaces for patients. But if the FMC is upgraded to a teaching hospital, it would be provided with more resources to better contend with the pressures from patients. Similarly, it would be strategically expanded to meet the healthcare needs of the state.”

Toeing the line of Dr. B.C. Okorochukwu, the Chairman of the Imo State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Emeka Obioha, regretted that the Southeast has not adequately benefitted from equitable distribution of amenities in the country. According to Obioha, FMC, Owerri, is the biggest medical centre in Nigeria and has all it takes to be upgraded to a teaching hospital.

According to the physician, primary healthcare is designed to be funded by the local governments; secondary healthcare by the state and the tertiary system by the Federal Government.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 43

42 HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Demand will sustain food fortification programme - NAFDAC Appolonia Adeyemi

S

takeholders promoting the sustainable use of fortified foods have urged consumers to demand food products that are fortified with micronutrients.

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the awgency executing the Social Marketing Capacity Building Monitoring Evaluation and Impact Assessment of the food fortification programme, said increased demand for fortified food products will drive production in the industries.

The views of NAFDAC was disclosed during the flag-off of food fortification social marketing campaign in Lagos recently, when stakeholders including Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) , Lagos State Ministry of Health, and the National Fortification Alliance (NFA) made a case for sustainable demand of fortified food products. This explains why organisers of the campaign, NAFDAC in collaboration with GAIN and the FMOH targeted market women who trade in the products.

How does a trader determine that a product is fortified? Any product that is fortified with Vitamin A will have an eye logo conspiciously drawn on it.

Even if the product is fortified with iron or zinc, it will be written on the lable on the product.

On why traders and consumers should demand fortified food products, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at NAFDAC, Mrs O.N. Mainasara who was represented by William Effiok, said food fortification holds a great potential in curbing malnutrition, which is a public health issue in improving nutrition.

On his part, Mr. Larry Umunna, Country Manager of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in Nigeria, said: “It is your right to have access to

fortified food."

To make fortified food available, Fortification Group of experts including officers from NAFDAC and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) identified three food vehicles – flour, sugar and vegetable oil – that are used for fortification programme.

Food fortification or enrichment is the process of adding micronutrients (essential trace elements and vitamins) to food.

Although, it could be a purely commercial choice to provide extra nutrients in a food, sometimes, it is a public health policy, which aims to reduce the number of people with dietary deficiencies in a population.

This is an intervention to enhance the quality of readily available and more affordable foods nutritionally by addition of some vital minerals and vitamins by the body. Although, these minerals and vitamins are required in minute qualities, their absence in the body can cause severe Micronutrient Deficiency Diseases (MDD).

Example include Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which is a major contributory factor to child and maternal mortality.

Micronutrient malnutrition, also known as hidden hunger has become a major devastating nutritional problem affecting the health of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. The major micronutrient disorders include iodine deficiency disorder (IDD), VAD, and Iron deficiency aneamia (IDA).

Following Federal Government collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), UNICEF, Micronutrient Initiative (MI) and Committee of Selected experts initiated certain actions and mounted controls aimed at addressing the micronutrient deficiency problems in the country.

President of the Association of Food Bevearage Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), Chief Michael Daramola, said four basic food types that producers are mandated to

L-R: Lagos State Nutrition Officer, Dr. Abimbola Ajayi, Mainasara, and chairman of National Fortification Alliance, Fred Chiazor at the flag-off

fortify are consumed by everyone. Flour is used in making bread and pastries; sugar is used in most things including soft drinks, baking, etc.; and concerning salt, there is hardly any cooking without salt and vegetable oil.

According to him, even some companies are doing fortification for products such as juice, malt drinks, seasonings, water, among others.

Daramola reasoned that companies can be encouraged to sustain their mandate in the area of food fortification if there is increased demand for these products.

On his part, Director General of

Benefits of fortification • It helps to improve nutritional quality of food supply • It provides public health benefit with minimal risk to health • It helps address nutritional aneamia • Addition of micronutrient staples and condiments can prevent largescale deficiency diseases • It helps to foster eradication of malnutrition and ensures a healthy and virile populace

NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii lamented the continued smuggling of nonfortified edible vegetable oil and sugar into Nigeria , saying it threatens the successful implementation of national food fortification exercise which is geared towards eliminating the scourge of ‘hidden hunger,’ especially among young children and pregnant or lactating mothers who are worst hit.

Also, Orhii said another major challenge facing the fortification programme is the existence of cottage industries involved in making of maize flour and the manual production of edible vegetable oil that do not have the facility to fortify their products.

However, he said: “There is the need to look at the possibility of providing retail packs of vitamin A premixes and sprinkles, which the cottage industries can easily afford in order to ensure 100 per cent mandatory fortification of the chosen food vehicles in Nigeria.

“Although, NAFDAC is continuously making efforts to mop up smuggled non-fortified food vehicles, there is the need for strengthened and continued collaboration among relevant government agencies in order to prevent the influx of these products into the country,” said Orhii.

Medical experts cry out over high rate of organ trafficking

O

n the occasion of the World Kidney Day, marked globally on March 8, the Nigerian association of Nephrology (NAN) has lamented the increasing rate of organ trafficking and medical tourism in the country and called for an effective legislation against both practices.

Also, the association has expressed concern over non-regulation of the activities of newer dialysis centres in the country.

These are contained in a statement issued to mark the World Kidney Day. According to the statement, by NAN, which is a member of the International Society of Nephrology' said government at all levels should encourage local centres in the delivery of transplantation services by

Healthy kidneys

funding and enhancing capacity development in order to reduce capital flight as a result of the medical tourism.

Similarly, the body urged government to partner with relevant agencies

concerned in streamlining the activities of dialysis centres, especially the need to have trained nephrology and dialysis personnel to man such centres.

The World Kidney Day is a joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF).

The theme for this year's World Kidney Day is: kidneys age, just like you.

You take care of them, and talk to your doctor.

"World Kidney Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health

problems worldwide."

Acute kidney injury as a result of infections, bleeding disorders and flood losses from obstetric causes and accidents is still a major challenge in our country. There is therefore a need to encourage health promoting habits in limiting the incidence.

Activities lined up to mark the day include screening for kidney disease, blood pressure, and diabetes in adults and children.

There will also be awareness activities at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), General Hospital, Gbagada, General Hospital Lagos Island and General Hospital Igando and in several states of the federation.

HEALTH 43

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Adamawa plans free treatment for VVF victims Ibrahim Abdul

I

magine being kicked out of your matrimonial home by your husband because you are suffering from a disease or health challenge that exposes you to public humiliation and stigmatisation.

This, sadly, is the lot of most victims of Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF), an ailment resulting from an abnormal fistulous tract that extends from the urinary bladder ‘vesico’ to the vagina, leading to an involuntary continuous discharge of urine into the vagina (urinary incontinence).

It is a health predicament which is particularly prevalent among women in the northern part of the country, who are mostly regarded as cursed based on the misguided belief that they are paying for their sins.

This was the case in Adamawa State where about 2000 women are currently suffering from the scourge as plans are under way for the establishment of the VVF centre in the state.

NT Health investigations revealed that majority of VVF victims live in the rural areas and most of them have resigned to fate as they are constrained by lack of fund to seek treatment.

However, the situation is now changing for the better.

The state government said that it has completed arrangements to establish a VVF centre that will alleviate the sufferings of these traumatised women under

a project known as the Fistula Care.

Commissioner for Health, Lilian Steven a lawyer, who disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the free treatment in Yola, also said that already patients with hernia, cleft lip, cataract, VVF, pregnant women and accident victims are to get free medical care in the state.

She stressed that VVF is a disease that requires specialised training by medical personnel.

According to her, “treating VVF is time consuming as the disease is often complicated, which means only a few sufferers can be attended to in a week or month if a patient does not to suffer a relapse.”

She pointed out that some of the medical services that could be rendered to patients during the campaigns include medical assessment, admissions and surgical repairs and all the services were free.

“Plans are also under way to establish VVF centres beside the introduction of skill acquisition programmes for patients that underwent surgical repairs so that they can become empowered financially and be reintegrated with their families into the society.” The executive arm will lobby for enactment of laws that could assist the patients, she said.

While flagging off the campaign and free treatment, wife of the state governor, Dr. Halima Murtala Nyako, expressed regret that VVF victims are often regarded

Wife of Adamawa State Governor, Dr. Halima Nyako

as cursed based on the misguided belief that they are paying for their sins.

A 35-year-old mother of two, Malama Kaltume, told NT Health: “It was after I gave birth to my second child that I noticed that I could no longer control my urination. I would wet my matrimonial bed with urine and this usually makes me to smell. The situation was actually very embarrassing to me and my husband.”

Kaltume further said that but for her caring and compassionate husband who brought her to the hospital to be treated, she could have become frustrated and lived a miserable life.

She called on women who are suffering from VVF to come out to seek medical attention early before the disease degenerates.

Speaking also, the VVF Focal officer in the state Malama Sa’adatu Gidado, noted that most of the victims are in the rural areas and only get to know that there is a cure for the disease courtesy of Nyako’s wife pet project.

Sa’adatu said , “Treating VVF is time consuming as the disease is often complicated, which means only few sufferers can be attended to in a week or month if a patients does not suffer a relapse.”

Imo healthcare challenges C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4 1

“With the prevailing situation where the FMC is handling all categories of healthcare service delivery, there is the need to enhance their capacity by upgrading it to a teaching hospital.”

Obioha noted that though FMC, Owerri, has the highest assemblage of professional manpower in the state, its infrastructure and personnel are well over-stretched.

Hence there is the need and room for expansion, and that can best be achieved by upgrading the centre to a teaching hospital.

“The major problem here is that the primary and secondary healthcare centres in the state are not functioning optimally.

They need to be re-invigorated, not only in Imo state, but in the entire Southeast. The FMC, Owerri, should be a referral and tertiary healthcare centre and not a primary and secondary healthcare centre as it has been constrained to be.

The submissions of most medical practitioners in the state clearly suggest that either the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), Orlu, is functioning far below capacity or the productivity and functionality of the primary and secondary health systems in the state have further dwindled into insignificance to the extent that two tertiary health institutions in the state have been virtually overrun by patients. In recent

times, IMSUTH had battled with issues of poor funding by the state government, inadequate personnel and infrastructural deficit to such extent that medical students had had to match the streets in protest against dwindling medical standards.

While IMSUTH is believed to have 35-50 consultants in their employ, FMC, Owerri ,has 70-75 consultants in divers fields.

Beside the medical and healthcare needs of the state and its environs, FMC has a lot on ground to support and justify a Teaching Hospital status.

In line with its mandate as a training and research facility, the centre runs a very competitive Residency Training Programme for doctors, laboratory scientists and other health professionals.

It offers residency programmes in Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Internal

The major problem here is that the primary and secondary healthcare centres in the state are not functioning optimally. They need to be re-invigorated, not only in Imo state, but in the entire Southeast

Health Minister, Prof. Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu

Medicine, Family Medicine, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics and Radiology.

Findings further revealed that the centre is in partnership with some private universities that do not have a Teaching Hospital like Madonna University, in the areas of Medicine and Medical Laboratory.

To buttress competence, most of the consultants in FMC, Owerri are examiners in the West African College of Surgery and the National Post-Graduate College of Medicine.

With its mandate in healthcare delivery, training and research, the FMC, Owerri is already, to a large extent serving the purposes of a Teaching Hospital. All these, with the attendant huge wage bill, compete for the limited resources available to the centre.

In several areas, expediencies are forcing

the centre to expand, but resources and allocation are not 'expanding' likewise.

Inspite of these challenges; through creativity and sheer improvisation, critical infrastructures are still springing up in FMC, Owerri thus showcasing the capacity of the centre to easily fit into the role of Teaching Hospital when it gets the nod.

Also in line with its role as a training centre, an almost completed House Officers Quarters of 40-room self-contained suites is clearly in view within the vicinity.

A 50-room ultra-modern, luxury ward is also under construction in the Centre to help contain the surge of patients to the hospital.

Beside these realities, medical students of Imo origin are not left out in the clamour for the upgrade of the FMC, Owerri to a Teaching Hospital. Beside the attendant job opportunities that would follow, the students are convinced it would make their housemanship placement a lot easier as they would no longer need to be tossed back and forth, as is often the case when they are posted outside their state.

However, as the advocacy rages among medical professionals and leaders of thought in Imo state, it is expected that the relevant authorities would dispassionately consider the request of Chief Iwuanyanwu and expeditiously address same, as the health of a people is a vital imperative to their productivity and progress.

44 HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

AHPA, JOHESU task Reps over health bill Stories by Appolonia Adeyemi

I

n its efforts to ensure it prevent chaos in the implementation of the National Health Bill (NHB), the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) and Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has called on the House of Representatives to conduct a proper public hearing on the Bill so as to amend its Section 1.

Also, both organisations gave the Federal Government up till today, to approve all befitting and acceptable wages for all health workers.

National President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria (AMLSN), Dr. Godswill C. Okara, who made the call, said redressing section 1 of the NHB "Will serve the ultimate professional and public interest. It will also avoid unnecessary conflict that will worsen the disharmony and decline in the Health Sector.

According to him, Section 1 of the NHB is an attempt by medical practitioners to duplicate, undermine and usurp the professional regulatory functions of other health professions.

The section states: “National Health System which shall define and provide a framework for setting standards and regulation of health services in Nigeria.”

Contrary to the impression created that “as of today the health industry in Nigeria is left largely unregulated, without norms and standards, lacking protection of health users and providers," Okara said there are existing legal framework for setting standards, regulating and controlling various aspects of health services in Nigeria.

A

s Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the International Women Day, it has been shown that nearly seven in 10 women in Nigeria have no access to safe toilet facilities.

Similarly, an estimated 297 million women across sub-Saharan Africa out of which 54 million are in Nigeria, lack access to safe and adequate sanitation.

This is contained in a statement to mark International Women Day, issued yesterday by WaterAid, a British charity working, to promote access to safe water and sanitation.

According to the statement, life without access to clean water and toilets is tough for everybody, but the consequences of not having these basic services affect women and girls the most.

Consequently, WaterAid has called on the three tiers of government to increase the rates of sanitation access from 31 percent currently to 65 per cent, and water access from 61 per cent to 75 per cent by 2015. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, commemorated worldwide on March 8, is ‘Inspire Change’.

The call to improve access to adequate sanitation became necessary

For instance, he noted that there is existing legal framework in the Health System for pharmacists and pharmacy practice through the Pharmacists’ Council of Nigeria (PCN) law, for doctors through the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act; for nursing; midwifery through the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria Act; and Physiotherapy through the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Board, among others.

He noted that, "what is needed is to strengthen and allow these regulatory agencies to perform their functions with-

out let or hindrance, adding that the NHB is seeking to surreptitiously duplicate and usurp the statutory mandate and functions of these regulatory agencies. “This will create conflict and confusion in the health sector,” he said.

On the approval of befitting and acceptable wages for all health workers, Okara lamented that the process of reviewing salaries and allowances of healthcare professionals is enmeshed in delay tactics and other avoidable bottlenecks.

Consequently, he said that failure of government to address the wage issues

satisfactorily by March 13, “we shall no longer be in a position to appeal for calm among our members.

"If it was possible to negotiate, albeit illegally and unlawfully, at the highest level of government within some hours and get the Federal Government to circularise the outcome in line with due process in less than 10 days when new salaries were approved for doctors in January 2014, then it appears the Federal Government is playing games with members of JOHESU and AHPA who have displayed maturity and restraint," Okara said.

L-R: Public Relations Officer, Health Information Managers Association of Nigeria, Federal Chapter, Mr. Peter Adegbite; National 1st Vice President, AMLSN, Alhaji Toyosi Raheem; Dr. Okara; and National Secretary, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Pharm. Victor Okwuosa at the press conference on Some Contemporary Health Matters by AHPA and JOHESU in Lagos

Nearly 54m Nigerian women lack access to safe, adequate sanitation because although Nigerian government had pledged to increase the rates, the country is one of the few African countries where rates of access to sanitation are actually falling, from 37 per cent of the population in 1990 to 31 per cent today.

According to the statement, of those 54 million in Nigeria without access to safe and adequate sanitation, 17 million practice open defecation and that is to say they have no choice, but to go to the toilet in the open. For these women, finding a place to go to the toilet over the course of a year, takes up over three billion hours.”

Highlighting the ordeal women face, the British charity estimates that one in three women around the world is still without clean, safe water and sanitation.

WaterAid is working hard to inspire change for the many women in some of the world’s poorest countries who still bear most of the burden caused by lack of safe water and sanitation – long hours spent trekking for water, ill

health, and vulnerability if they must defecate in the open.

Women and girls who must spend hours a day seeking water cannot spend that time at school or in incomegenerating activities. Eliminating that burden, and giving girls the time and opportunity to focus on education will ultimately lead to healthier, bettereducated families, who have a better chance of working their way out of extreme poverty. The lack of such essential services creates a massive crisis for developing countries like Nigeria – undermining health systems, education, economic development and progress on gender equality. Poor water, sanitation

Women and girls who must spend hours a day seeking water cannot spend that time at school or in incomegenerating activities.

and hygiene is costing Nigeria around N455 billion representing 1.3 percent of its GDP each year, stated the release.

The statement further said: “The good news is that the economic benefit to Nigeria would be huge. The World Bank has estimated that every $1 that is invested in sanitation generates an $8 return for the economy. This is probably one of the most – if not the most – effective investment that Nigeria can make to grow its economy and in its women.”

According to Michael Ojo, Country Representative of WaterAid Nigeria, “the situation in Nigeria for women lacking these basic services is very critical. Every year, nearly 100,000 mothers in Nigeria will lose a child under the age of five because of a disease brought about due to lack of access to safe sanitation and clean water.

“The trauma suffered by these mothers through the loss of a child is just one of the other, but most tragic ways that a lack of sanitation affects women.”

METRO 45

of Truth

March 13, 2014

ll make Akwa Ibom Businessman arraigned for duping man of N2.9m me-free, says CP

e

State CommisPolice, Umar yesterday remitment of his make the state

e the assurance ing an adminisith VIP toilet at e Headquarters,

sioner said the king assiduously in the state. n our part, we re going to make building to fight ally make it difals to live in the

was sponsored n Esuene reprenatorial District.

Gwadabe, who spoke through his deputy, Posi Ajuwa, expressed appreciation to Esuene for donating such an edifice, saying that the project was first of its kind in the area.

He said: “Without our distinguished senator, this project would not have come to the divisional police headquarters, somebody must fight for you before you can achieve something.’’

In her remark, Esuene said the project was the first in the series of projects to be inaugurated in Eket Senatorial District.

She expressed the hope that the project would encourage and motivate Nigerians to give helping hands to the police.

The lawmaker said security was everybody’s business, adding that security was the base of sustainable development in the country.

According to her, the office of the Presidency provides assistance to put in place projects that will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

She said: “Since we represent the people, every year we are given options to select projects within our constituency that we know will assist in the achievement of one or two development goals.

“That is while I came up with this administrative block.”

Esuene noted that more projects would soon be inaugurated at Oron and Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency.

She urged the police personnel to be more proactive in discharging their duties in the state.

Esuene also donated a transformer and 10 solar light poles to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Eket.

DECEIT A businessman collects N2.9m from another man on the pretence of buying a car

A

businessman, Desmond Ijikara, was arraigned yesterday before a Senior Magistrates’ Court in Wuse, Abuja for cheating his business partner of N2.9 million.

Ijikara is facing a threecount charge of conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating.

The police prosecutor, Corporal Abdullahi Adamu, told the court that on July 27, 2013, a businessman, Mr Emmanuel Illah of Plot 165, Karu, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), lodged a report

at the Wuse Police Station.

Adamu told the court that the accused collected N2.9 million from Illah with a promise to purchase a Mercedes Benz E350 saloon car from Germany.

The prosecutor, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the accused collected the money with a promise to deliver the car by August 2013.

He added that the accused went into hiding after collecting the money and converted same to his personal use, until he was eventually arrested in January.

Adamu said the offence contravened sections 97, 312 and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code.

If convicted, the accused may face a term which may extend to 10 years with an op-

tion fine or with both.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

After the arraignment, the prosecutor prayed the court to grant him an adjournment to enable him to open his case against the accused.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Shaka Awaliene, urged the court to grant his client bail on liberal conditions.

In her ruling, the Senior Magistrate, Mrs Chinyere Nwacheonwu, admitted the accused to bail for N500,000 and a surety.

She ordered that the surety must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and must be a public servant.

Nwacheonwu adjourned the matter to March 27 for hearing.

neglect breeds violent crimes –Analyst NSCDC impounds tanker for fuel diversion

s

nalyst, Mr. Folotta, has blamed rge in violent ect of the police administrations

mned a situation ment does not take ions to prevent but starts lookafter a crime had

been committed.

This was as he even wondered why the Federal Government was not doing anything to introduce scientific investigation into police.

According to him, the police are capable of solving at least 70 per cent of cases reported to them if only the government wakes up from its slumber and funds the force properly.

He added that with the un-

derfunding of the force, the activities of armed hoodlums, insurgents and militants would increase on a daily basis as these elements were more armed than the security agents.

The crime analyst, who said Nigeria was safer 10 years ago than now, suggested that to boost their morale, the Federal Government must provide personnel of the force accommodation and working tools.

Dahiru Suleiman Dutse

N

igeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) apprehended a tanker with registration number GYD 13 XA (BAUCHI) at Fanisau-Kano RD fully loaded with fuel meant for Jigawa State but diverted to Bauchi State.

The state NSCDC ComAde Abolurin, DG NSCDC

losses as nri market The incident came barely a month when the market was shut and reopened over issues involving the Iyaloja General, Mrs Folasade Tinubu-Ojo. According to witnesses, the fire which started around 11:18 pm, consumed several goods before the arrival of the officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, who eventually put out the inferno.

NT Metro gathered that on March 6, fire also razed the same shopping com- One of the affected shops plex, with two shops burnt before the responders. No life was lost but it is fire service officials put it out. pathetic to note that properties worth Speaking on the development, the millions of naira were lost.”

The Director, Lagos State Fire SerGeneral Manager, Lagos State Management Authority (LASEMA), Dr Femi vice, Mr Rasak Fadipe, disclosed that Oke-Osanyintolu, said the fire burnt most of the items burnt in the 17 shops were generators, and different types several shops resulting in the loss of of textiles, plastic materials, among goods worth millions of naira.

He said: “Immediately the fire others.

Fadipe said the inferno was as a restarted, emergency response plan was activated. The fire was put off af- sult of a surge in the power supply, addter the combined effort of emergency ing that a few days ago, fire occurred

mandant, Dr Muhammad Gidado, who described the act as economic sabotage which must not be allowed to go unpunished, said investigation was on-going.

Gidado promised that all those found culpable would

be prosecuted.

In the past one week, Jigawa State has experienced acute supply of petroleum products, resulting in long queue of vehicles at almost all the filling stations in Dutse, the state capital and its environs.

This has brought about arbitrary increase in pump price from the official price of N97 to N140 per litre.

Only very few filling stations in Dutse are selling fuel, others are without the commodity.

It is, however, available at the black market where it is sold at N800 per gallon.

Two brothers in court for theft

T in the complex with two shops razed.

He said: “We battled the inferno when it was still raging.”

Fadipe added that officers at the fire service station at Sari-Iganmu were quickly mobilised as they came with a fire engine with 10,000 litres of water.

He explained that because of the magnitude of the inferno, the fire service stations at Ilupeju and Onikan were mobilised with each of the station coming with 10,000 litres of water each.

wo brothers, Dalla Babagana (22) and Umoru Babagana (20), were yesterday arraigned at an Apapa Senior Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, for stealing a tricycle.

The brothers, who reside at Orile area of Lagos, are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and receiving dishonestly.

According to the prosecutor, Sergeant Uche Simon, one of the brothers, Dalla, stole a tricycle valued at N500,000 belonging to one Theophilus Ibe. He said: “Dalla gave the tricycle to his brother,

Umoru, who knew that the tricycle was stolen, but still converted it to his personal use.”

The prosecutor said that the accused committed the offences on February 17, at White Sand area of Orile, Lagos.

Simon, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the offences contravened sections 285, 326 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 326 stipulates 14 years imprisonment for a person who dishonestly receives stolen property.

46 business | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

12-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

Price

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

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

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

0.02 0.05 0.30 0.55 1.12 2.43 3.13 3.38 3.47 4.22 5.30 5.62 7.88 14.72 15.20 15.69 16.36

13.31 13.36 13.77 14.35 14.20 14.11 14.10 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.09 14.02 14.11 13.71 13.68 13.66 13.68

4.68 10.60 13.25 14.04 14.03 14.04 13.98 13.87 13.88 13.90 14.01 13.92 14.05 13.66 13.63 13.59 13.62

99.94 99.83 98.61 97.41 89.80 97.85 102.40 89.10 87.56 89.70 106.90 73.31 110.60 108.04 92.40 66.96 76.15

100.09 99.98 98.76 97.56 89.95 98.00 102.70 89.40 87.86 90.00 107.20 73.61 110.90 108.34 92.70 67.26 76.45

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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,402.04

Rating/Agency

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

0.64 1.20 1.56 2.75 3.11 3.32

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

15.42 17.21 16.60 16.00 15.48 15.00

90.99 82.00 100.97 89.16 86.21 84.70

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

0.40 0.59 1.47 0.84 1.37 1.38 3.10 1.94 3.81 2.58 4.56 2.78 2.78 3.36 3.25 5.70 3.55 4.11 6.71 4.11 4.15

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

18.97 20.38 18.84 17.82 18.92 17.94 19.58 21.68 15.79 15.81 15.01 15.00 15.21 15.00 16.46 15.96 16.74 16.74 15.03 15.44 15.95

98.04 96.55 92.17 95.85 94.51 97.46 78.42 88.33 94.96 96.30 96.73 99.09 104.59 98.78 97.76 94.61 95.02 94.43 93.60 101.88 101.53

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

LAFARGE WAPCO

Aa/Agusto Nil Bbb+/Agusto A-/Agusto

GTB µ NGC

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

*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 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

07-Oct-11 18-Dec-09

11.50 13.50

11.80 13.17

07-Oct-14 18-Dec-14

0.57 0.77

1.00 5.21

15.37 19.74

97.93 95.66

01-Apr-10 17-Aug-10 09-Dec-10

17.00 10.00 12.00

2.00 15.00 37.50

31-Dec-14 17-Aug-15 09-Dec-15

0.81 0.95 1.03

8.71 4.88 1.00

23.27 19.56 15.70

95.52 92.18 96.78

06-Jan-11 29-Sep-11 25-Oct-13

14.00 13.00 14.25

1.50 15.00 5.53

06-Jan-16 29-Sep-16 25-Oct-16

1.11 2.55 2.62

2.63 1.00 1.34

17.27 15.01 15.35

97.13 95.85 97.65

30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 09-Apr-11

13.00 18.00 16.00

20.00 0.94 8.01

30-Sep-17 30-Nov-17 09-Apr-18

3.55 2.17 2.08

4.52 1.88 3.48

18.52 15.91 17.51

86.06 104.82 97.53

09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11

18.00 16.00

3.63 1.00

09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18

2.49 2.49

5.20 5.06

19.22 19.08

97.81 101.76

22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12

14.00 15.75 17.00

35.00 3.00 0.54

22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19

4.53 2.35 2.69

3.06 2.29 6.11

17.07 16.31 20.12

90.58 99.10 94.19

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.68

2.76

16.79

93.88

11-Feb-18

3.92

1.00

15.00

86.13

Maturity Date

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)

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

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

FGN

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.63

5.47

106.27

107.21

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.81

4.60

101.23

102.03

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

6.05

5.92

102.25

103.18

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

4.07

3.03

113.26

115.29

GTBank PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

5.24

4.59

104.57

105.93

GTBank PLC II

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.34

6.04

98.65

99.82

B+/S&P

Access Bank PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.21

6.82

100.10

101.25

B/S&P; B/Fitch

Fidelity Bank PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

8.43

8.03

94.63

96.00

B/Fitch

Afren PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

5.33

4.62

114.07

115.59

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

First Bank PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.38

6.84

103.20

105.25

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

Afren PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

6.63

6.27

99.99

101.42

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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

2,960.00

**Treasury Bills DTM 8 15 22 29 36 43 57

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 (%) 12.50 12.90 13.00 12.90 12.80 13.00 12.90

Offer Discount (%) 12.25 12.65 12.75 12.65 12.55 12.75 12.65

Bid Yield (%) 12.53 12.97 13.10 13.03 12.96 13.20 13.17

Tenor CALL 7 DAYS 30 DAYS 60 DAYS 90 DAYS 180 DAYS

NIBOR

Money Market Rate (%) 15.4167 15.6667 15.9167 16.1250 16.3333 16.6250

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

14.88

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

15.13

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M

164.73 164.95 165.21 165.86 166.77

164.83 165.23 165.60 166.62 168.34

O/N Tenor Call

REPO

Rate (%) 14.67

FMBN

NA

***LCRM

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

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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

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

1.20 1.56 2.75 3.11 3.32

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

17.21 16.60 16.00 15.48 15.00

82.00 100.97 89.16 86.21 84.70

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

18.97 20.38 18.84 17.82 18.92 17.94 19.58 21.68 15.79 15.81 15.01 15.00 15.21 15.00 16.46 15.96 16.74 16.74 15.03 15.44 15.95

98.04 96.55 92.17 95.85 94.51 97.46 78.42 88.33 94.96 96.30 96.73 99.09 104.59 98.78 97.76 94.61 95.02 94.43 93.60 101.88 101.53

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds Bbb-/Agusto KWARA A-/GCR NIGER A+/Agusto KADUNA A/Agusto March 13, 2014 *EBONYI Thursday, Nil *BENUE A+/Agusto *IMO A+/Agusto; A+/GCR LAGOS A-/Agusto *BAYELSA A/Agusto EDO A+/Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTA Bb+/Agusto; A-/GCR NIGER A/Agusto; A-/GCR† *EKITI A-/Agusto *NIGER A/Agusto; A-/GCR *ONDO A/Agusto; A-/GCR *GOMBE Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR LAGOS A/Agusto; A-/GCR *OSUN A/Agusto *OSUN Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR LAGOS A/Agusto *EKITI ransactions on the NiA-/GCR *NASARAWA Sanctity of Truth

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 EKITIbillion 09-DEC-2018 lost N38 or 0.30 per cent 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 to15.50 close lower at N12.572 trillion, ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50the GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 from N12.613 trillion record22-NOV-2019 ed14.50 on LAGOS Tuesday .

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 The NSE All-Share Index 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 lost 119.1 points or 0.30 per cent 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 to15.00 close at 39,150.30, when comNASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

05-Aug-09 14.00 15-Oct-09 14.00 31-Aug-10 12.50 30-Sep-10 13.00 30-Jun-11 14.00 30-Jun-09 15.50 19-Apr-10 10.00 30-Jun-10 13.75 30-Dec-10 14.00 30-Sep-11 14.00 04-Oct-11 14.00 09-Dec-11 14.50 per share, respectively .

12-Dec-13 14.00 7UP recorded the 14-Feb-12 15.50highest 15.50 gain 02-Oct-12 of N4.13 to close at N86.77 22-Nov-12 14.50 per share.

12-Dec-12 14.75 ConOil 30-Sep-13trailed with 14.75 a gain 27-Nov-13 of N1.90 to close 13.50 at N51.90, 31-Dec-13 14.50 while06-Jan-14 Lafarge Wapco 15.00appreci-

17.00 05-Aug-14 0.40 6.00 15-Oct-14 0.59 8.50 31-Aug-15 1.47 16.50 30-Sep-15 0.84 13.00 30-Jun-16 1.37 18.50 30-Jun-16 1.38 57.00 19-Apr-17 3.10 50.00 30-Jun-17 1.94 25.00 31-Dec-17 3.81 50.00 30-Sep-18 2.58 9.00 04-Oct-18 4.56 20.00 09-Dec-18 the activity chart with 27.692.78 mil12.00 12-Dec-18 2.78 lion shares worth N113.58 mil27.00 14-Feb-19 3.36 20.00 02-Oct-19 3.25 lion, while GTBank sold 25.970 80.00 22-Nov-19 5.70 million shares valued at N649.75 30.00 12-Dec-19 3.55 million.

11.40 30-Sep-20 4.11 87.00 27-Nov-20 6.71 Wapic accounted for 25.38 5.00 31-Dec-20 4.11 million shares worth N21.67 5.00 06-Jan-21 4.15

business | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Capital market indices dip by 0.30% BEAR RUN

The bears outsmarted the bulls at the Exchange.

T

gerian StockVALUE Exchange TOTAL OUTSTANDING

(NSE) yesterday closed on Corporate Bonds a downward trend as some A+/Agusto; AA/GCR LAFARGE WAPCO Aa/Agusto GTB posted highly capitalised stocks µ NGC Nil losses.

As a result of the losses, Bbb+/Agusto *UPDC the capital market indices, A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLSacBB+/GCR cording to the News*CHELLARAMS Agency of A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO Nigeria (NAN), declined by 0.30 A-/Agusto FSDH A/GCR per cent.

UBA BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING The market capitalisation # BBB+/DataPro; BB+/GCR A-/DataPro; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BB+/DataPro; BB+/GCR

*DANA

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

#

*TOWER *TOWER#

S’ African monetary policy remains accommodative TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE UBA *LA CASERA # *CHELLARAMS

S

outh African Supranational Bond Reserve Bank

AAA/S&P IFC Governor Gill Marcus said

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE monetary policy remains accommodative even after borRating/Agency Issuer rowing costs were increased FGN Eurobonds for the first time in more than five years.

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P The bank, according to BB-/Fitch; FGN BB-/S&P Bloomberg news, will “continue BB-/Fitch; toBB-/S&P focus on its core mandate of price , but with TOTALstability OUTSTANDING VALUEdue regard to the impact of its actions Corporate Eurobonds on economic activity ,” Marcus B-/S&P; B/Fitch Afren PLC I said in a speech at the Central GTBank PLC I B+/S&P; B+/Fitch University of Technology , IIacGTBank PLC B+/S&P Bank PLC cording to a copy Access posted on B/S&P; B/Fitch Fidelity Bank PLC bank’s website yesterday .

pared with 39,269.40 achieved on Tuesday. Guinness led the 11.50 LAFARGE 7-OCT 2014 losers' chartWAPCO

by N6.85 to close GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 at13.50 N173.15 per share. It was fol17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 lowed

by Flour Mill with a loss 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 9-DEC-2015 of12.00 N2FLOURMILLS to close at N76 per share.

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 Dangote Cement lost N1.02 to 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 close at N238.98, 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016while Stanbic 13.00 UBA IBTC and30-SEP-2017 Mobil declined by N1 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 each to close at N20.25 and N122 MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 MPR+5.25 TOWER Finance 9-SEP-2018 Corporahe Africa

T

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 tion (AFC), an African-led 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 multilateral MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMSdevelopment II 17-FEB-2019 15.25 NAHCO IIinstitution 14-NOV-2020 financial whose

mission is to improve African economies on March 25, will 10.20 an IFC 11-FEB-2018 host inaugural summit to address infrastructural requirements in Africa.

Description The summit, titled: 'AFC Live: Bridging the Infrastructure Divide' according to 28, a statement, 6.75 JAN 2021 responds to the need to open a 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 dialogue will tackle the scale of 6.38 JUL 12, 2023requireAfrica's infrastructure ments and its investment deficit, which is conservatively estimated at over US$40 billion per 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 annum over the next 7.50 MAY 19, ten 2016 years.

The summit which is slated 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 25, 2017 to take place 7.25 in JUL Lagos, will also 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 discuss issues such as Africa's 10.25 APR 08, 2019

million, while FBN Holdings ated by N1.50 to close at N112.50 567.90 per share. Zenith Bank gained recorded a turnover of 21.30 58kobo to close at N22.57, million shares valued at N266.06 07-Oct-11 11.50 while 11.80 07-Oct-14 0.57 18-Dec-14 0.77 UBN18-Dec-09 grew by 50kobo13.50 to close at 13.17 million. In all, investors staked 01-Apr-10 17.00 2.00 31-Dec-14 0.81 N10.68 per share.

N3.12 billion on 281.637 million 17-Aug-10 10.00 15.00 17-Aug-15 0.95 Access Bank was the shares in 4,506 deals.

09-Dec-10 12.00 toast of 37.50 09-Dec-15 1.03 06-Jan-11 14.00 06-Jan-16 1.11 the 347.699 investors, accounting for 47.19 1.50This was against 29-Sep-11 13.00 15.00 29-Sep-16 2.55 million shares worth N3.70 bilmillion shares valued at N361.26 25-Oct-13 14.25 5.53 25-Oct-16 2.62 30-Sep-10 13.00 20.00 3.55on million. lion traded 30-Sep-17 in 4,782 deals 30-Nov-12 0.94 30-Nov-17 2.17 Transcorp came 18.00 second on Tuesday .

09-Apr-11 09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12

16.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00

14-Nov-13

15.25

8.01 3.63 1.00 35.00 3.00 0.54

09-Apr-18 09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18 22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19

2.08 2.49 2.49 4.53 2.35 2.69

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.68

AFC to host infrastructure summit 175.67

need to take the lead in bridging Nebo, Minister of Power, Nige11-Feb-13 11-Feb-18 3.92 the investment divide10.20 whilst also 12.00 ria; Hon. Patrick Achi, Minister accessing international capital 12.00 of Economic Infrastructure, as part of a joined up and holistic Côte d'Ivoire; Hon. Cristina DuIssue Date Coupon (%) Issue Value ($'mm) Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) approach. It will bring together arte, Minister of Finance, Cape African politicians, business Verde; Mr Jim Yong Cai, Execuleaders and academics tive Vice President and CEO, 07-Oct-11 6.75 for a se500.00 28-Jan-21 5.63 ries of lively panel discussions. International Finance Corpora18-Dec-09 5.13 500.00 12-Jul-18 4.81 Confirmed speakers include: tion, Mr Tony Elumelu, Chair01-Apr-10 the economist 6.38 12-Jul-23 6.05 Jim O'Neill, and 500.00 man Heirs Holdings, Ms. Diana former Chairman of Goldman 1,500.00 Layfield, CEO Africa, Standard Sachs Asset Management, best Chartered Bank, Dr. Nkosana Moyo, Mandela Institute4.07for known for coining the11.50 'BRIC' and 450.00 01-Feb-11 01-Feb-16 'MINT' acronyms, as well as Dr. Development Studies; and5.24 Ms. 19-May-11 7.50 500.00 19-May-16 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CoordiFunke Opeke, CEO Main One 08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 6.34 25-Jul-12 7.25 7.21 nating Minister of Finance and 350.00 Speaking on25-Jul-17 on the upcoming 09-May-13 6.88 300.00 02-May-18 8.43 Economy , Nigeria; Prof.

Chinedu Summit.

08-Apr-12 10.25 300.00 08-Apr-19

Global Money Week: NSE partners CBN

By Chris Ugwu

T

he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has partnered the Bank 1.00 15.37Central97.93 19.74 of 5.21 Nigeria (CBN) and95.66 Child 8.71 23.27 95.52 and Youth Finance Interna4.88 19.56 92.18 tional to host a96.78 series 1.00 (CYFI) 15.70 17.27 97.13 of 2.63 events across the country 1.00 15.01 95.85 in 1.34 celebration Global 15.35 of the 97.65 4.52 18.52 86.06 Money Week.

1.88 15.91 104.82 The partnership according 3.48 17.51 97.53 to 5.20 a statement from the 19.22 97.81 Ex5.06 19.08 change would also help101.76 mould 17.07 the3.06 future executives of90.58 Corpo2.29 16.31 99.10 rate The financial 6.11Nigeria.20.12 94.19 lit2.76 initiative 16.79 involve93.88 eracy key senior officers of the NSE, CBN and other financial powerhous15.00 86.13 es 1.00 being deployed across the 36 States of Nigeria for the school engagement activities.

Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price To commemorate this week, Yields the Prices NSE &said it will host series of 5.47 events, including “A107.21 Day At 106.27 the Exchange Excursion Pro4.60 101.23 102.03 gramme and Ringing of the 102.25 5.92 closing bell by students;103.18 Financial Literacy Fair and School Out-Reach Programme.

The events will hold in La3.03 113.26 115.29 gos, Abuja and Owerri on 10th, 4.59 104.57 105.93 11th and 13th of March.

Global 6.04 98.65 99.82 6.82 101.25 Money Week100.10 2014 in Nigeria is 8.03 94.63 96.00 part of a global celebration.

B/Fitch

Afren PLC II

4.62

114.07

115.59

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

First Bank PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.38

6.84

103.20

105.25

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

Afren PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

6.63

6.27

99.99

101.42

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

5.33

47

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

2,960.00

12-Mar-14

The FMDQ Daily income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to **Treasury Bills Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed FIXINGS Money Market Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) and Disclaimer the FMDQ DTM OTC PLC Terms of Use NIBOR Maturity BidStatement.

Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%)

8 15 FGN Bonds 22 29 36 Rating/Agency 43 57 64 71 78 85 99 106 113 120 127 NA 148 176 267 302 316 330 344 358

20-Mar-14 27-Mar-14 3-Apr-14 10-Apr-14 17-Apr-14 Issuer 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 10-Jul-14 17-Jul-14 FGN 7-Aug-14 4-Sep-14 4-Dec-14 8-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 5-Mar-15

12.50 12.90 13.00 12.90 12.80 Description 13.00 12.90 10.50 18-MAR-2014 12.80 10.75 31-MAR-2014 12.90 9.20 29-JUN-2014 13.00 9.25 28-SEP-2014 12.95 4.00 23-APR-2015 12.85 12.90 13.05 16-AUG-2016 13.25 15.10 27-APR-2017 13.30 9.85 27-JUL-2017 13.30 9.35 31-AUG-2017 13.30 10.70 30-MAY-2018 13.35 16.00 29-JUN-2019 12.60 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.20 16.39 27-JAN-2022 13.15 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.15 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.20 8.50 20-NOV-2029 13.35 10.00 23-JUL-2030

12.25 12.65 12.75 12.65 12.55 Issue Date 12.75 12.65 18-Mar-11 12.55 31-Mar-07 12.65 29-Jun-07 12.75 28-Sep-07 12.70 23-Apr-10 12.60 12.65 16-Aug-13 13.00 27-Apr-12 13.05 27-Jul-07 13.05 31-Aug-07 13.05 30-May-08 13.10 29-Jun-12 12.35 23-Oct-09 12.95 27-Jan-12 12.90 28-Nov-08 12.90 22-May-09 12.95 20-Nov-09 13.10 23-Jul-10

12.53 12.97 13.10 13.03 12.96 Coupon 13.20(%) 13.17 10.50 13.09 10.75 13.23 9.20 13.37 9.25 13.35 4.00 13.31 13.40 13.05 13.82 15.10 13.91 9.85 13.95 9.35 14.06 10.70 14.27 16.00 13.88 7.00 14.82 16.39 14.84 15.00 14.92 12.49 15.08 8.50 15.36 10.00

Tenor Rate (%) CALL 15.4167 7 DAYS 15.6667 30 DAYS 15.9167 60 DAYSValue 16.1250 Outstanding Maturity Date 90 DAYS 16.3333 (N'bn) 180 DAYS 16.6250 320.00 18-Mar-14 365 DAYS 16.9167 35.00 31-Mar-14 45.00 29-Jun-14 NITTY 28-Sep-14 100.00 535.00 23-Apr-15 Tenor Rate (%) 1M 12.8983 292.47 16-Aug-16 2M 13.1124 452.80 27-Apr-17 3M 13.2454 20.00 27-Jul-17 6M 14.2443 100.00 31-Aug-17 9M 14.8216 300.00 30-May-18 12M 15.4478 351.30 29-Jun-19 233.90 23-Oct-19 600.00 27-Jan-22 NIFEX 28-Nov-28 75.00 150.00Current Price ($/N) 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 BID($/N)200.00 164.7250 23-Jul-30 OFFER 591.57 ($/N) 164.8250

Bonds

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,402.04

OBB

14.88

Spot O/N 15.13 7D REPO Offer14D Yield TTM (Yrs) BidRate Yield Tenor (%)(%) 1M (%) Call 14.67 2M 0.02 13.31 4.68 1M 15.50 3M 0.05 13.36 10.60 3M 16.00 6M 0.30 13.77 13.25 6M 16.50 1Y 0.55 14.35 14.04 1.12 14.20 14.03 NOTE: 2.43 14.11 14.04 :Benchmarks 3.13 14.10 13.98 * :Amortising 3.38 Bond 14.00 13.87 µ :Convertible 3.47 Bond 14.00 13.88 AMCON:4.22 Asset Management14.00 Corporation of Nigeria 13.90 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 5.30 14.09 14.01 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 5.62 14.02 13.92 IFC: International Finance Corporation 7.88 14.11 14.05 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management 13.71 Company13.66 NAHCO:14.72 Nigerian Aviation Handling 15.20 13.68 13.63 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 15.69Bank for Africa 13.66 13.59 UBA: United 16.36 13.68 Company13.62 UPDC: UAC Property Development WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company

*from the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

***LCRM Modified Duration Buckets

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

<3 3<5 KWARA >5 NIGER KADUNA Market *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS

Issue Date

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 Porfolio Market 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017Total Outstanding Value(Bn) Volume(Bn)

1,230.28 1,039.14 14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 450.48 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 2,719.90

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

1,280.27 951.30 591.57 2,823.14

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 Weighting by 06-Jul-12 Outstanding Vol

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

Offer ($/N)

164.73 Price 164.83 164.95 165.23 165.21 165.60 Offer Price Bid Price 165.86 166.62 166.77 168.34 99.94 100.09 168.49 171.19 99.83 99.98 172.09 176.29 98.61 98.76 179.09 188.32 97.41 97.56 89.80 89.95 97.85 98.00 NA :Not Applicable 102.40 102.70 # :Floating 89.10 Rate Bond 89.40 ***: Deferred 87.56 coupon bonds 87.86 89.70 90.00 †: Bond rating expired 106.90 107.20 73.31 73.61 110.60 110.90 108.04 108.34 92.40 92.70 66.96 67.26 76.15 76.45

Issue Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

0.00

978.35

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 Weighting by Mkt 0.00/16.50 Value

6.00 112.22 116.70 Bucket66.49 Weighting

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 % Exposure_ 06-Jul-17 Mod_Duration

0.64 1.20 1.56 2.75 3.11 3.32Yield Implied

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 Implied 1.00 Portfolio Price

15.42 17.21 16.60 16.00 15.48 15.00 INDEX

90.99 82.00 100.97 89.16 86.21 YTD Return 84.70 (%)

0.00 BOND INDEX 24.56 FMDQ FGN

45.35 05-Aug-0933.70 15-Oct-0920.95 31-Aug-10 100.00

Bid ($/N)

Coupon (%)

#

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums Description Rating/Agency Issuer **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Tenor

45.23 14.00 38.21 14.00 16.56 12.50100.00 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

1,304.32 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

0.45 0.34 0.21 1.00

21.98

14.13

38.64 05-Aug-14 15-Oct-1439.37 31-Aug-15 100.00 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

14.10 0.40 0.59 13.68 1.47 13.94 0.84 1.37 1.38 3.10 1.94 3.81 2.58 4.56 2.78 2.78 3.36 3.25 5.70

100.4307 116.8984 4.88 5.99 82.5316 4.44 102.2291 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

1,015.90 989.85 18.97 20.38 999.11 18.84 994.83 17.82 18.92 17.94 19.58 21.68 15.79 15.81 15.01 15.00 15.21 15.00 16.46 15.96

1.5905 -

1.0149 98.04 96.55 0.0888 92.17 0.5169 95.85 94.51 97.46 78.42 88.33 94.96 96.30 96.73 99.09 104.59 98.78 97.76 94.61

48 BUSINESS | MONEY LINE

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Elections will slow growth, say experts key), noted that there is the fragile and vulnerable five.

Those, he said, are the countries whose currencies have actually dropped sharply or have become subjects of speculative attack.“So when you have currency weakness, financial panic and elections coming, it creates a perfect setting for currency adjustment, “ he said.

He said currency values are made up three major components: demand supply equilibrium, speculative activities and

Economy Governance will soon stop and all efforts dissipated to the forthcoming elections.

Ayodele Aminu

G

rowth of the Nigerian economy this year will be constrained by the forthcoming elections, experts have forecast.

This contrast sharply with the forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, which projected that Nigeria’s economic growth, will accelerate this year to 7.3 per cent, motivated by sectors outside the energy industry.

The Nigerian economy had grown 6.4 per cent in 2013, contrary to Finance Minister Dr Okonojo- Iweala’s projection of 6.75 per cent growth.

But speaking at the Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Investors’ Conference yesterday, Dr. Doyin Salami, a senior lecturer at the Lagos Business School (LBS), said the growth of Nigeria’s economy will slow toward

Finance Minister, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala

2015.

He said: “I have my doubt about whether or not the growth will not slow towards 2015 because if we take the numbers that have been projected to come out of the rebasing, then those numbers for the next two years have to be lower.

“2014 is effectively an election year and the first half of 2015 would be the conclusion of that election. So, we hopefully return to governance by August 2015. It is at that point we then begin to think of how to regain the growth momentum. “ He said the challenge to growth remains the issues around job creation and the upward concentration of income.

Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismark Rewane, corroborated Salami, saying that the Naira will continue to be weak and instability will increase.

He said: “The currency will continue to be weak and political instability will increase.

There is need or diversification away from oil dependency, pursue the millennium development goals and achieve international and domestic competitiveness.”

Former Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O'Neil, who talked about the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Tur-

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

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

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

FX

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

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

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

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

fear or panic.

Currency volatility is not unique to Nigeria. Basically, the naira is over-valued by about 11 per cent.

In 2011, the outcome of election was more important than the process, but in 2015, the process would be more important than the outcome. But we are optimistic that the outcome is going to be positive and the process would be less contentious.

With social media it will difficult to rig.

Ecobank needs new leader for long term –RenCap incompetent ETI's new CEO's appointment should be temporary.

Jonah Iboma

T

he recent decision by the board of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) to approve the exit of Thierry Tanoh as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer and replace him with Albert Essien, may not be in the best interest of the firm in the long-term.

This was the conclusion of a report by Renaissance Capital, a leading financial advisory, which has been watching the development in the banking group closely.

According to the report, while the appointment of Essien is necessary in the immediate, given the issues the firm had been through, ETI needed a chief executive that will develop and sustain a cost control mechanism in ETI. It also called for an experienced chairman and board with new vigour.

It said, “While he (Essien) seems, to us, an obvious choice in the interim, we are not convinced he is the best long-term CEO solution for the Group. Going forward, we believe ETI still needs an experienced chairman to provide strategic direction, an invigorated board and a CEO who can drive consolidation and ensure a culture of cost control is well entrenched. “ Renaissance Capital said its advice was based on its belief that the appointment of Essien, may be taken negatively by the market, if it was permanent. It hinged its position on the fact

that Essien served closely under former CEO, Arnold Ekpe, “during the period of rapid expansion when the sizeable increases in the cost base resulted in a sharp fall in returns and hence value destruction.”

The report noted that as part of the old guard, Essien will likely carry on with an entrenched culture that has seen ETI’s operational costs rise in recent years.

Prior to his appointment, Essien was the ETI’s deputy Group CEO and executive director in charge of the corporate and investment banking division. According to the details released by the banking group, he has been an ETI employee for over 20 years and an executive director since 2005.

The report said further that Tanoh’s exit should please investors who have been concerned about his involvement in the corporate governance issues.

ETI had been enmeshed in corporate governance issues in the past few weeks leading to regulators in Nigeria advising the bank to address them quickly.

Matters came to a head two weeks when a major shareholder of the bank, the South African government-owned Public Investment Corporation’s (PIC), demanded the immediate removal of the Ivorian Thierry Tanoh.

Four senior executives had called earlier that Tanoh step down, listing a series of allegations, including that Tanoh took a unilateral decision to dismiss finance director Laurence do Rego, who has now been recalled, contrary to a decision by the board.

business | CAPITAL MARKET 49

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at March 12, 2014

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014

Daily Summary (Equities)

Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Daily Summary (Bonds) Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 15.10% FGN APR 2017 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 16.39% FGN JAN 2022 Federal Totals

Symbol FG9B2017S2 FG9B2019S3 FG9B2022S1

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 1 1 1 3

Current Price 103.00 108.05 111.60

3

Bond Activity Totals

3

Quantity Traded 970 1,500 100 2570

Value Traded 1,054,630.81 1,670,199.05 113,682.51 2,838,512.37

2,570

2,838,512.37

2570

2,838,512.37

Daily Summary (Equities)

LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 4 31 20 55

Current Price 0.50 42.00 44.00

Quantity Traded 527,500 191,198 54,750 773,448

Value Traded 263,750.00 8,003,972.80 2,326,935.80 10,594,658.60

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 31 31

Current Price 3.69

Quantity Traded 714,107 714,107

Value Traded 2,698,998.93 2,698,998.93

1,487,555

13,293,657.53

Daily Summary (Equities)

AGRICULTURE Totals

86

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. CHELLARAMS PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Symbol AGLEVENT CHELLARAM JOHNHOLT TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 20 4 4 265 44 337

CONGLOMERATES Totals

Current Price 1.40 3.95 1.21 4.18 65.00

337

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Value Traded 45,000.00 45,000.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol INFINITY

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.64

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 170.00 170.00

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 119 23 595 93 8 21 153 1,012

Current Price 3.86 2.10 12.50 3.40 0.60 20.25 2.60

Quantity Traded 3,748,654 942,218 21,302,656 2,936,750 271,383 149,858 8,415,223 37,766,742

Value Traded 14,343,068.55 2,033,691.54 266,056,006.68 9,984,223.89 163,599.80 3,046,048.93 21,628,254.06 317,254,893.45

215,397,077

2,017,076,103.86

1

of

2,722 No. of Deals 1

Current Price 3.72

Quantity Traded 268

Value Traded 948.72

Symbol UNIONDAC

No. of Deals 1 2

Current Price 0.50

Page Quantity Traded 2,500 2,768

7Value Traded of 14

Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. Medical Supplies Totals

Symbol MORISON

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 1.91

Quantity Traded 6,010 6,010

Value Traded 10,938.20 10,938.20

Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

Symbol FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

No. of Deals 16 13 2 3 2 36

Current Price 3.03 70.00 2.14 1.76 1.57

Quantity Traded 374,285 99,794 1,900 37,000 4,936,308 5,449,287

Value Traded 1,147,811.44 6,985,721.44 3,914.00 62,160.00 7,750,003.56 15,949,610.44

5,458,065

15,962,747.36

Symbol COURTVILLE

No. of Deals 15 15

Current Price 0.73

Quantity Traded 1,551,764 1,551,764

Value Traded 1,107,489.76 1,107,489.76

Symbol CWG

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 5.85

Quantity Traded 100

Value Traded 556.00

HEALTHCARE

UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC Healthcare Providers Totals

14

Quantity Traded 390,002 2,673 2,982 27,690,479 464,215 28,550,351

Value Traded 545,009.06 10,050.48 3,429.30 113,584,216.43 30,119,912.62 144,262,617.89

28,550,351

144,262,617.89

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol EKOCORP

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Healthcare Providers

No. of Deals 27 27

Current Price 1.60

Quantity Traded 880,352 880,352

Value Traded 1,348,025.20 1,348,025.20

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 7 7

Current Price 75.00

Quantity Traded 7,550 7,550

Value Traded 538,024.50 538,024.50

No. of Deals 18 18

Current Price 21.06

Quantity Traded 68,242 68,242

Value Traded 1,411,373.12 1,411,373.12

956,144

3,297,422.82

Symbol

UAC-PROP Daily Summary (Equities)

52

CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC Automobiles/Auto Parts Totals© Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic

Symbol DUNLOP

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 5,638 5,638 Page

HEALTHCARE Totals

40

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC

Symbol CHAMPION GOLDBREW GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 1 1 45 11 116 174

Current Price 14.51 0.68 173.15 27.99 148.05

Quantity Traded 150 20,348 95,483 58,005 939,908 1,113,894

Current Price 86.77

Quantity Traded 174,368 174,368

Value Traded 15,129,911.36 15,129,911.36

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR MULTITREX NASCON UTC

No. of Deals 38 49 34 37 1 51 12 222

Current Price 9.50 10.65 76.00 4.02 0.50 12.74 0.55

Quantity Traded 169,187 859,708 4,138,521 1,011,868 987,475 613,704 116,702 7,897,165

Value Traded 1,587,335.89 9,262,534.12 314,525,265.77 4,113,057.74 493,737.50 7,879,028.45 64,227.28 337,925,186.75

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded 31 85.00 85,705 54 1,026.35 59,712 85 145,417

3

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM

No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded 33 4.50 843,902 33 843,902

Value Traded 3,544,171.92 3,544,171.92

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded 56 34.00 649,308 62 47.00 1,527,968 118 2,177,276

Value Traded 22,071,624.93 72,035,357.04 94,106,981.97

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 U T C NIG. PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY Food Products Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

CONSUMER GOODS Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

Page

650

of

Value Traded 7,143,752.75 61,302,105.53 68,445,858.28

12,357,660

676,735,564.14

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded ACCESS 177 7.70 47,185,930 DIAMONDBNK 48 6.70 1,503,517 ETI 49 14.50 4,692,083 FIDELITYBK 55 2.28 1,242,756 GUARANTY 240 25.00 25,970,207 SKYEBANK 98 3.79 3,005,513 Daily STERLNBANK Summary (Equities) 35 2.30 14,802,319 UBA 214 7.40 9,428,923

Value Traded 361,257,574.08 10,112,608.31 68,030,572.97 2,837,686.78 649,748,441.31 11,515,984.36 33,051,764.46 70,717,733.05

©

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. OASIS INSURANCE PLC PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. Published by TheUNIC Nigerian Stock Exchange INSURANCE PLC. ©

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals UBN

Symbol UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK Symbol AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST EQUITYASUR GNI GUINEAINS INTENEGINS LASACO MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM NIGERINS OASISINS PRESTIGE STDINSURE UNIC UNITYKAP WAPIC

63

Current Price 10.68

Quantity Traded 886,937

No. of Deals 5 41 477 1,502

Current Price 0.50 1.08 22.57

No. of Deals 37 5 6 1 8 1 5 2 1 1 48 14 11 5 1 1 1 58

Current Price 0.78 1.10 0.54 0.50 0.51 0.50 0.61 0.50 2.25 0.50 0.76 0.50 0.54 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.88

Page

4 Traded of Value 9,256,354.93

Quantity Traded 1,247,828 1,933,760 19,702,631 131,602,404

Value Traded 623,914.00 2,018,708.41 444,230,095.77 1,663,401,438.43

Quantity Traded 2,481,108 465,800 519,204 788 455,406 17,850 149,223 105,001 100 11,000 12,581,370 827,000 2,924,989 36,908 1,950 Page 13,442

Value Traded 1,946,440.03 511,100.00 280,690.16 394.00 232,277.06 8,925.00 91,026.03 52,500.50 236.00 5,500.00 9,646,895.20 413,500.00 1,484,274.28 20,668.48 975.00 of 14 6,721.00

250 25,376,442

Page

ICT Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

5

of

No. of Deals 1 1 3

Current Price 15.99 1.97

Quantity Traded 25 204 329

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Symbol CHAMS

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 0.52

Quantity Traded 2,252,800 2,252,800

30

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

2,280,265.28 Value Traded 51.80 16,962,437.74 344,063.99 9,353,721.00 228,370.18 102,166,253.21 423,000.00 25,000.00 2,848.40 288,510.00 130,270.00 28,394,594.93

Quantity Traded 20 999,883 36,751 206,072 24,769 434,382 300,000 50,000 4,664 150,000 26,000 254,064

Symbol

No. of Deals 178

Current Price

Quantity Traded 2,486,605

Value Traded 158,319,121.25

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 1.95

Quantity Traded 57,167 57,167

Value Traded 107,340.62 107,340.62

Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 3 1 4

Current Price 1.63 19.02

Quantity Traded 22,200 115,000 137,200

Value Traded 34,410.00 2,187,300.00 2,221,710.00

2,680,972

160,648,171.87

Symbol ALUMACO

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 7.75

Quantity Traded 300 300

Value Traded 2,211.00 2,211.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Building Materials Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Daily Summary (Equities)

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals NATURAL RESOURCES

Metals Totals

187

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Activity Summary on Board EQTY Energy Equipment and Services Totals

OIL AND GAS Integrated Oil and Gas Services

OANDO PLCStock Exchange © Published by The Nigerian

Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

1

Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

SERVICES Employment Solutions

9

of

300

2,211.00

Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 48 48

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 3,819,133 3,819,133

Value Traded 1,909,796.50 1,909,796.50

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 134 134

Current Price 17.58

Quantity Traded 2,521,111 Page 2,521,111

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 35 21 7 21 1 11 96

Current Price 51.90 3.55 104.00 122.00 54.44 166.05

Quantity Traded 435,105 428,256 5,004 33,454 430 11,623 913,872

Value Traded 22,438,151.42 1,539,163.00 494,395.20 4,094,448.52 22,239.60 1,947,603.35 30,536,001.09

7,254,116

76,955,869.64

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 1.35

Quantity Traded 1,630 1,630

Value Traded 2,102.70 2,102.70

Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 4.40 2.75

Quantity Traded 40,960 81,219 122,179

Value Traded 184,865.20 223,352.25 408,217.45

Daily Summary (Equities)

OIL AND GAS Totals

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 SERVICES Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

Page

278

REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

6 6 12

Value Traded

44,510,072.05

No. of Deals 20 20

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded Page 1,772,600 1,772,600

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 0.67

Quantity Traded 221,050 221,050

Value Traded 148,504.50 148,504.50

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 14 14

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 333,600 333,600

Value Traded 166,800.00 166,800.00

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 1 12 1 9 23

Current Price 1.80 1.81 2.40 4.08

Quantity Traded 1,000 291,012 300 81,473 373,785

Value Traded 1,790.00 526,731.72 684.00 334,918.76 864,124.48

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 0.93

Quantity Traded 371,405 371,405

Value Traded 347,140.70 347,140.70

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,250 2,250

Value Traded 1,125.00 1,125.00

Employment Solutions Totals

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 Daily Summary as 14:47:50.050 of 12/03/2014 Printed 12/03/2014 Road Transportation Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC

Daily Summary of 12/03/2014 Totals Roadas Transportation Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

Specialty SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC Activity Summary Specialty Totalson Board EQTY Activity Summary on Board EQTY SERVICES

SERVICES Transport-Related Services Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC SERVICES Transport-Related Services Services Totals Transport-Related NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC SERVICES Totals Transport-Related Services Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities) NSLTECH

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO Symbol NAHCO

3 3

No. of Deals Current Price No. of Deals 7 Current Price 2.93 23 5.60 30 Current Price No. of Deals 23 5.60 123 30

Quantity Traded Page Quantity159,240 Traded 332,535 491,775 Quantity Traded

Value Traded

11 886,520.00 of 14

886,520.00

Value Traded 12 of 14

332,535 3,690,274 491,775

Value Traded 467,958.00 1,866,044.45 2,334,002.45 Value Traded 1,866,044.45 5,158,537.28 2,334,002.45

SERVICES Totals EQTY Board Totals

123 4,506

3,690,274 281,637,407

5,158,537.28 3,115,673,168.67

Equity Totals EQTY Activity Board Totals

4,506 4,506

281,637,407 281,637,407

3,115,673,168.67 3,115,673,168.67

4,506

281,637,407

3,115,673,168.67

Equity Activity Totals

Exchange Traded Fund Name

NEWGOLDTraded EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) Exchange Fund

Exchange Name Traded Fund Totals NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) ETF Board Totals Exchange Traded Fund Totals

ETFActivity Board Totals ETP Totals ETP Activity Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Daily Summary (ETP)

DailySymbol Summary (ETP) No. of Deals NEWGOLD

Symbol NEWGOLD

753 Quantity Traded 753 753 753

Quantity Traded 753

Value Traded 1,614,131.00 1,614,131.00 Value Traded 1,614,131.00 1,614,131.00 1,614,131.00

22

753 753

1,614,131.00 1,614,131.00

2

753

1,614,131.00

Page Page

13 14

2

Current Price 2,144.00

No. of Deals2 Current Price 2 2,144.00 2 2

Page

14

44,510,072.05 10 of 14

Symbol CILEASING

Published by The Stock Exchange © C & Nigerian I LEASING PLC.

14

Value Traded 1,171,456.00 1,171,456.00

3,804,893 Current Price 2.72 16.75 9.77 45.50 9.70 238.98 1.41 0.50 0.61 1.90 5.13 112.50

Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 Metals ALUMINIUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

14

of

Value Traded 380.00 383.52 1,319.52

No. of Deals 1 60 18 21 6 34 2 1 2 3 2 28

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

14

8

Symbol AFRPAINTS ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM DNMEYER FIRSTALUM IPWA PAINTCOM PORTPAINT WAPCO

PLC.

BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC IPWA PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC.

125.00 21,672,354.24 6

Symbol NCR TRIPPLEG

Building Materials Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 ASHAKA CEM PLC

14

Page

IT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals

ICT Totals

Value Traded 2,068.50 14,447.08 16,870,479.77 1,581,701.50 139,111,938.01 157,580,634.86

No. of Deals 15 15

1,250.00 2,198.72

Daily Summary (Equities)

Value Traded 2,819.00 2,819.00 2 of 14

Symbol 7UP

7-UP COMP. PLC. Daily Summary asBOTTLING of 12/03/2014 Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Value Traded 36,374,601.98

Quantity Traded 60,000 60,000

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol COSTAIN

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals

UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC

Quantity Traded 45,967,831

Current Price 0.75

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Infrastructure/Heavy Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

FINANCIAL SERVICES PublishedBanking

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange UNION BANK NIG.PLC.

Current Price

No. of Deals 1 1

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 Livestock/Animal Specialties

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

No. of Deals 206

Symbol NPFMCRFBK

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC Daily Summary asCAPITAL of 12/03/2014 UBA PLC Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 Other Financial Institutions Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 FIDELITY BANK PLC Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC Daily Summary as of 12/03/2014 STERLING BANK PLC. Printed 12/03/2014 14:47:50.050 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC

Symbol

Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

14

of of of

14 14 14

50 WORLD | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Pro-Russian forces seizes Crimea Airport Sylva Okereke

with Agency Report

P

ro-Russian forces have taken over the main airport in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, leading to scores of flights being cancelled in and out of the region.

It is also claimed that Crimean airspace is under the control of Russian military, after soldiers were seen at the entrance to the air traffic control centre on the outskirts of the capital.

At least one flight from Kiev was told to turn around in mid-air and leave Crimean airspace, according to Ukrainian sources.

Passenger Demjin Doroshenko, originally from Ukraine, was on a flight told to return to Kiev. Only flights to Moscow were running out of the capital “The plane was told to turn around. We tried to land

Rebel’s oil tanker escapes from Libya

A

North Korean-flagged tanker that loaded crude oil from a rebel-held terminal in eastern Libya has escaped naval warships deployed to intercept it, leading to the vessel sailing on international waters, the rebels as well as state oil company official have said.

The tanker, the Morning Glory, which docked in al-Sidra port on Saturday, is reported to have taken on at least 234,000 barrels of crude oil, is the first vessel to have loaded oil from a rebelheld port, since the revolt against Tripoli authorities erupted last year.

“The tanker left and is now in international waters,” Reuters quoted Mohammad Hitab, spokesman for the state-run alWaha Oil Company operating the al-Sidra port, as saying.

Rebels demanding a bigger share of oil revenue and political autonomy in the east seized three ports last summer and partly control a fourth.

The central government had threatened armed action, even an air strike, to prevent the tanker from getting away with its cargo of oil bought from the rebels’ self-declared autonomous regional government without the authorisation of the stateowned Libyan National Oil Corporation.

in Simferopol, but that was refused, we tried to land in Odessa, but that was refused, so we had to go back to Kiev’, he said.

At Simferopol Airport, pro-Russian forces wearing the red armbands of the selfdefence force stood guard at the gates and inside in the departure area.

Passengers at the check-in desk were told all flights to Kiev and Istanbul had been cancelled. Only flights to Moscow were running.

Staff told passengers the disruption was due to the “political situation”.

When asked how long they would be at the airport, one of the guards said, “Maybe a long time. The people are thanking us for being here.”

Ukraine’s government has appealed for the West’s help to stop Moscow annexing Crimea.

But the Black Sea peninsula, overrun by the pro-

Russian troops, appeared fixed on a course that could formalise rule from Moscow within days. On March 16, a referendum in Crimea will ask voters to decide whether to split with Ukraine and join Russia.

The Crimean parliament

on Tuesday voted for independence from Ukraine in a move apparently setting up the legal framework to join Russia. Western nations have said they will not recognise the vote as legitimate.

Members of a pro-Russian self defence unit run after

taking an oath to Crimea government in Simferopol .Crimea has been overrun by the pro-Russian troops Earlier, Ukraine’s deposed leader, Viktor Yanukovych insisted he remained his country’s legitimate president.

New York City Fire Department firefighters at the scene of an explosion and building collapse at Park Avenue and East 116th Street in the Harlem section of New York. A residential building exploded and collapsed yesterday, sparking a serious fire and engulfing the area in thick smoke, officials said.

My autograph is on Pistorious’s bat—SA batsman

A

s the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius continues in Pretoria, the former South African batsman, Herschelle Gibbs has tweeted, saying he saw his autograph on the bat, used by Pistorius to break down the bathroom door, after shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

A policeman holds up the bat to demonstrate how Pistorius struck at the bathroom door as his murder trial continues in Pretoria

Gibbs tweeted and said, ‘Just saw my signature on the bat used by the accused in oscar trial’ The cricket bat and the wooden door are considered key pieces of evidence and a mock-up of the bathroom has been constructed in the courtroom The proceedings are being televised live each day on a dedicated channel in South Africa.

The door was also presented as evidence on Wednesday morning, suggesting prosecutors will attempt to re-create his shooting

of Steenkamp for the judge.

Pistorius, who denies the murder charge, lead defence lawyer Barry Roux, and court officials gathered round the door ahead of the day’s proceedings, examining what appeared to be bullet holes, apparently marked with white tags on the wood.

Forensic analyst Col J.G. Vermeulen showed the court how Pistorius hammered at the bullet-marked bathroom door, after firing four shots

through it.

Pistorius, 27, the world famous double amputee athlete, is on trial for muder, after firing four times through the bathroom door, hitting Steenkamp three times and killing her.

He says he shot her by mistake, thinking she was a dangerous intruder hiding in the toilet cubicle. Prosecutors maintain Pistorius shot Steenkamp deliberately, following a row.

Malaysia Airline: Pilot’s last words give no danger signals —Report

T

he last recorded words spoken by the pilot of the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 gave no hint that anything was wrong with the jetliner that disappeared from radar, just a short time later.

An air traffic controller told the pilot, “We have to hand you over to Ho Chi Minh City,” a Malaysian civil air department representative said today referring to air traffic control in Vietnam. The pilot responded, “All right, good night.”

The Malaysian authorities revealed that exchange in a briefing for Chinese media and the Chinese press relayed that information to ABC News.

Flight MH370 never made contact with air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City and what

happened to the plane and its 239 passengers has baffled searchers.

The conversation details emerged as officials announced they are expanding the search to cover 27,000 nautical miles over two separate areas, 14,440 square nautical miles in the South China Sea along the plane’s designated route as well as 12,425 square nautical miles in the Strait of Malacca, which is hundreds of miles to the west of the plane’s flight path.

Authorities ran down another lead this week, but came up empty. A New Zealand man working on an oil rig emailed authorities after he said he spotted a burning object in the water east of Vietnam on

Saturday morning, the day the plane disappeared. Vietnamese officials sent a plane to the area to investigate the man’s claims, but the search was fruitless, naval officer Le Minh Thanh told ABC News.

Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a press conference today that the search now includes 42 ships and 39 aircraft. “We will never give up hope,” he said.

Malaysia is seeking to bring in more experts – officials from the plane’s manufacturer Boeing, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and Rolls Royce, which built the plane’s engines – to analyze civil and military data.

The search now includes 12 countries, including India, Japan and Brunei Hussein defended the rescue efforts against rising complaints of confusion, calling the search strategy “very consistent.” “It’s only confusion if you want it to be seen as confusion,” he said.

Five days into the search, authorities have not ruled out any possible cause, including mechanical failure, pilot error, sabotage or terrorism.

Until wreckage or debris is found and examined, it will be very hard to say what happened.

Vietnam scaled down its search to a “less intensive” format, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ABC News.

I’m ready for Glasgow - Osonaike Adekunle Salami

N Osonaike

ational table tennis player, Funke Osonaike, on Wednesday declared her readiness for the forthcoming Commonwealth

Games scheduled to hold in July.

Osonaike told our correspondent on the telephone that she had doubled her efforts preparatory to the challenges ahead in the games.

She noted that the Common-

SPORT

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

wealth Games would always be competitive for many reasons ranging from personal pride to patriotism.

The German based ping pong star said; “At club level, we meet ourselves

CONTINUED ON PAGE 53

NEW TELEGRAPH

Did you know?

newtelegraphonline.com/sports

ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

That Austria and Switzerland teamed up for the highestscoring game in World Cup history in 1954 when they combined for 12 goals.

Austria won 7-5

thursday, march 13, 2014

Ike Uche: Keshi, NFF on collision course Keshi

Maigari

Ajibade Olusesan

T

he Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, are set for another face-off over the decision of the Head Coach to leave out some players

Table Tennis: Oribamise makes Nigeria’s World cup team }p-53

in his plans for the forthcoming World Cup. Keshi‘s decision to exclude striker Ikechukwu Uche has attracted mixed reactions but New Telegraph reliably learnt that the Barrister Chris Green-led committee has taken a definitive position on the purported plan to exclude the Villarreal forward.

Uche

CONTINUED ON PAGE 53

Man City to launch shock move for Torres }p-54

Jos court stops Nigeria Premier League }p-55

51

52 SPORT | INTERVIEW

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Countdown to Fifa World Cup

We know what to do -Luiz Gustavo Brazil have always had a plethora of attacking prowess at their disposal. Pele, Zico, Kaka and Ronaldinho are just a few of the world-class stars that spring to mind from past eras. FIFA.com spoke exclusively to Gustavo about his role with the national side, the upcoming tournament in Brazil and his recent successes at both club and international level.

FIFA.com: The World Cup is looming large on the horizon. Are you excited?

Luiz Gustavo: The whole world, not to mention every player who is set to take part, is happy that it’s just around the corner. Everyone, including me, is trying to prepare well. The whole world is waiting for the World Cup to start.

Would playing in a World Cup be the highlight of your career?

A World Cup is always a career highlight for every footballer. Everyone in the Brazil team knows what we have to do.

We want to try and win the competition.

That’s the greatest thing you can achieve as a player.

What do you make of Brazil’s group, which includes Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon?

There are no easy opponents. You might say we have to prepare ourselves for seven finals. We have to focus on the job at hand, then we can achieve what we set out to do.

How do you deal with the pressure of having to win the World Cup? Everyone in Brazil expects you to triumph. Do the expectations of the media, the fans and everyone else place unnecessary pressure on the team?

Or do they act as a motivation?

Both – there’s added pressure and motivation. We know what the competition means to everyone in Brazil. We will do everything in our power to meet those expectations. They can’t wait for the World Cup to start.

Things certainly went to plan at the Confederations Cup. What was the secret to Brazil’s success in last year’s tournament?

The fans played a big part. When they get behind us, it’s unbelievable. Everyone in Brazil is crazy about football – I think that helped us a lot.

You played in all five matches at the tournament. Were you surprised to be such an integral part of Luiz Scolari’s plans?

No, it wasn’t a surprise. I’d been biding my time and he gave me an opportunity, which I grabbed with both hands.

How do you assess your role in the national side?

It’s difficult to explain. We’re a group that always tries to help one another – as is also the case at Wolfsburg. The team’s

in good shape and we all know how to pick each other up when we’re going through a difficult spell.

We try a n d find a solution together.

Much has been talked about Brazil’s incredible attack. Would you rather be the centre of attention?

That isn’t important. I just want to win. I know exactly what I have to do in my position, but I can’t score that many goals because I don’t go forward that often. That’s why it doesn’t bother me. If I have to run for 90 minutes for my team, then that’s what I’ll do.

What can football fans expect from a World Cup held in Brazil?

They can look forward to a great World Cup – it’s going to be a great spectacle. The Brazilians will give their all for everyone who has travelled to the country.

Last term, you also enjoyed a very successful season at club level. It’s been several months since Bayern secured an unprecedented treble - how would you sum up that historic campaign?

2013 was a very good year for the club and for all the players. This season, they’re proving again just how good they are, both in Germany and on the world stage. They have a new coach and a new style, and things are going absolutely perfectly for them at the moment. My time in Munich was very nice and I was very happy, but now it’s over and I’m only focusing on the future.

Have you ever regretted leaving Bayern?

I don’t regret it. It’s always good to have new challenges. That’s been the story of my career - I’ve always had to keep moving on to achieve my ambitions. I always look forward to new challenges.

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players. Do you think Wolfsburg could challenge the likes of Bayern and Dortmund in the near future?

It’s impossible to say. We have to focus on ourselves. The club has a lot of potential, but we’ll just have to see what happens.

You made your national team debut at the age of 24. Two years later you won the treble with Bayern, lifted the Confederations Cup, now the World Cup is just around the corner. Has it all been a dream? Did you ever expect this?

It’s not a dream. I’ve known since I was little what I wanted to achieve. I was at Bayern – a top You’ve club with whom I achieved albeen at most everything. Now, evWo l f s erything is possible, both burg for with the national team n i n e and with Wolfsburg. I months know what I have to n o w. do and what I can do.

H o w I’ve worked hard have for everything I Gustavo you enhave achieved joyed your so far in my catime at the reer.

Some of Euclub so far? rope’s bigI’m very gest clubs happy – we have been have a great Lahm rumoured to be project for the interested in signnext few years. ing you. Having signed It’s going very for – and stayed at – Wolfsburg, would you well and we’re say the Bundesliga is the strongest league doing a good job. in the world?

If we maintain our level of perforIt’s always nice when big mance, we can clubs are inachieve great things with this terested in you, team. but at the moWhat would be a ment I’m here and I’m realistic aim for Wolfsburg this season? very happy. I want to do my We just want to win every game. If best at Wolfsburg. Thanks to Bayern, the we manage to qualify for the Champions Bundesliga has become even more well League or the Europa League, we’ll be known in Brazil. Every stadium is sold out here and the league is very strong. satisfied.

The club has spent a lot of money on I think it’s the best league in the world.

Pele: Brazil 2014 will be different to 1950

he hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ is “a great opportunity” for Brazil, the country’s all-time great Pele told AFP in an exclusive interview.

The Seleção legend revealed his confidence that the tournament will be a memorable one for all the right reasons while also backing Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazil team to handle the huge pressure of being hosts.

“This is a great opportunity. It will be fantastic for Brazil,” he said. “I think after we had the experience of the Confederations Cup the government has been better organised for the World Cup. So I hope we will have an excellent World Cup. We deserve it.”

Winner of the World Cup three times, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, Pele says the one tournament that left its mark on him more than any other was the 1966 competition in England, when he was kicked off the park and Brazil bowed out at the

group stage. At least he is not associated with Brazil’s greatest failure - their defeat to Uruguay in the deciding game in 1950, the last time the country hosted the tournament.

In contrast, Pele’s childhood idol Zizinho was part of that team and became a symbol of the 2-1 loss which traumatised the huge country. The pressure on Scolari’s team to deliver this time on home soil is enormous, and Barcelona star Neymar, just 22, carries the hopes of a nation more than any other.

Pele, who was just 17 when he rose to international prominence at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, admits that the fear of failure this time around is massive. “This is Neymar’s first World Cup and nobody knows exactly what is going to happen. It is a big responsibility for him,” said Pele who was speaking to AFP as the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola stopped off in Paris.

“But the best thing for Neymar was to come to play in Spain, to play in Europe, the best thing for Brazil. It was like him going off to university for six months and then coming back to play with Brazil, because then they come with more experience. That was fantastic for him.

“The problem of pressure is not only a problem for Neymar. It is a problem for the whole team, no doubt. Of course, the country, the people, they want to win.

In Brazil we had one bad experience in 1950 when we played the World Cup in Brazil and lost to Uruguay. Now the people are afraid of the same thing happening. But I think it will be different now.”

Pele, who earned his nickname O Rei after scoring a hat-trick against France in the 1958 semi-finals, brackets the Selecao among the favourites, but sees Chile as potential dark horses in the tournament, which gets underway on 12 June.

SPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Abuja Blues

stories by jude Opara

53

Help save Nembe, Baribote Table Tennis: Oribamise makes Nigeria’s World Championship team begs lawmakers

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or the first time in recent time, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation has included teenage sensation, Esther Tosin Oribamise in its 10-man team for next month’s World Team Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Oribamise, 12, was part of the Team Nigeria to the last World Junior Championships in Rabat, Morocco and a member of the African team to the 2013 World Cadet Challenge.

In the team list released by the International Table Tennis Federation, Oribamise will join her compatriot s – Funke Oshon-

aike, Edem Offiong, Cecilia Otu-Akpan and Ganiat Olatunde-Aruna in the women’s event while veteran Segun Toriola will lead the men’s team alongside Portugal-based duo of Aruna Quadri and Seun Ajetunmobi.

Also listed in the men’s team are homebased duo of Ojo Onaolapo and Kazeem Makanjuola.

According to NTTF, the inclusion of Oribamise became necessary in order to expose the players early as well as to allow her to mix-up with the experienced players in the team.

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mbattled chairman of Nembe City, Chief Rumson Baribote on Tuesday ran to the National Assembly for assistance over the expulsion of his team by the Nduka Irabor led League Management Company.

Baribote had used the opportunity of the 2014 budget defence of the National Sports Commission and its subsidiaries at the House of Representatives Committee on Sports to appeal to the lawmakers to intervene and save his club as well as Giwa FC another privately owned club, axed by the LMC. Chairman of the committee,

Baribote

Godfrey Gaya, who also frowned at the expulsion, assured the lower House would wade into the matter.

But analysts are worried whether Baribote will get the needed reprieve from the lawmakers.

Elegbeleye saves the day A

Oribamise

Bayelsa plans big for swimming Chimaobi Uchendu

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ayelsa state sports council has mobilised swimmers in the state to wrestle swimming dominance from their neighbours in Rivers and Delta states.

To achieve this, the state government has approved funds for swimmers in the state to begin camping ahead of the National Sports Festival scheduled for Calabar in September.

New Telegraph learnt that the swimmers, who were selected from all the local government areas of the state, are already camped in a hotel in Yenagoa with a mandate to their coaches to make them ready before September when the national festival starts in Calabar.

The director of sports in the state ministry

of sports, Chief Isaac Mark-Tubo, said it was strange that a state like Bayelsa, could not compete with other states in swimming.

“I find it hard to believe that Bayelsa with swimmers in our riverine areas cannot win medals in swimming at national events. “ I am worried like any other person in this state that we are losing grip of swimming. I was secretary of swimming in the old Rivers State for so many years. Today, the fact that we can’t win one gold medal in swimming beats my imagination. It is embarrassing to me as director of sports, but we have decided to stop it by bringing together a pool of swimmers in a camp for a period for us to teach them the rudiments of the sport. since they already have the raw talents.”

ny organisation that does not have any former member of the National Assembly in its midst may not know what it is missing.

The National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Football Federation are now thanking President Goodluck Jonathan for appointing the former vice-chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Gbenga Elegbeleye, as the Director General of the NSC. In his days as a Rep, Elegbeleye was one of the actors that

Danagogo, the smiling minister

Danagogo

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ince the shock sacking of former Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdulahi, the Nigerian sporting world has been witnessing the smiling face of the new minister, Tamuno Danagogo.

Right from his first official asLast year the school played in the final signment, Danagogo has been of the Shell Cup national competition in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, but lost to a secondary school from Ekiti State.

Speaking on the success of his team at rust Nigerians, they will althe competition, the proprietor and princiways take an advantage eipal of the college, Chief Jude Oniah, said ther positive or negative of any that the victory of his boys was as a result situation. The lingering fuel of hard-work and dedication of the players. scarcity has provided excuse He noted that the players withstood for workers especially public pressure from their opponents due to rig- servants. orous training sessions and high level of A visit to any ministry or discipline instilled in them in and out of government agency, you will the pitch and promised to bring the trophy discover that most of the staff to the state as a parting and welcome gift are always not on seat. Before to the outgoing governor of the state, Mr. you even ask after them, their Peter Obi, and the governor-elect, Chief willing colleagues will quickly Willie Obiano. tell you that they have gone to

Akunne Oniah retains Anambra Shell Cup Dilionye Dilibe Onitsha

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kunne Oniah Memorial Secondary School, Onitsha once again displayed its superiority in football by retaining the Shell Cup soccer competition among secondary schools in the state on Sunday.

Akunne Oniah’s 4-0 victory over their rival, Austica Memorial High Cchool, Nanka in the final state on at St. Mary’s High School, Ifite-Dunu was the third consecutive victory of the school in the annual soccer competition.

With this feat, Akunne Oniah School will represent Anambra State in the zonal competition to be held in Enugu later in the year.

used to harass confidence out of the officials.

They will always find a fault and blow it out of proportion until such a official will appeal for mercy.

But all that has changed with the advent of Elegbeleye. During the budget defence at both the House and Senate Committees on Sports, the NSC and the NFF were told to take a bow despite some noticeable flaws in the budget presented by both offices. This was due to the respect accorded Elegbeleye.

wearing a warm appearance which is very rear among the recent sports administrators. Some past ministers of sports like Hassan Gimba always frown even from his first day.

At the budget defence at the National Assembly, Danagogo was not stingy with his smiles despite the rigors of answering all manners of questions and advices from the lawmakers.

Surely, he is a man who does not give in to pressure so easily.

We only hope that such smiles will continue after a while in office.

I remember Abdulahi who was latter having all manners of quarrels with his directors was also smiling very broadly when he was newly appointed.

Fuel scarcity rest days T

look for fuel or that they are on their way to work because of the fuel scarcity. Some even report for duty as late as 11 am all in the guise of looking for fuel or transport to the office while some stay off to rest at home.

But investigations have revealed that often times when you hear that a civil servant has gone to look for fuel, it means that he or she has closed for the day because they hardly return to the office till the next day.

54 SPORT | EURO FOOTBALL

Sport Trending

TWITTER |@NTelegraphSport

Atiku Abubakar Great game by the Arsenal boys. @atiku Alex Ox-Chamberlain Gutted we couldn’t get the result we wanted tonight. Proud of the effort the boys put in though. We can take that into Sunday’s big game. @Alex_OxChambo Aaron Ramsey Great effort tonight, shame it wasn’t to be. Time to recover and go again for a big one at the weekend. @aaronramsey Lukas-Podolski.com Moving moment. Cologne Fans came to support us in Munich. Thanx. @Podolski10 Rio Ferdinand After going to the Eng vs Wales rugby game..watching a footballer roll around after a little tap on the face as if poll axed is embarrassing. @rioferdy5 Lennox Lewis Honesty is a very good policy for dealing with others but it’s a great policy for dealing with yourself. @LennoxLewis Jermain Defoe Amazing first day’s training with @torontofc - can’t wait for the opening game of the season this Sat in Seattle. @IAmJermainDefoe Jonathan Akpoborie Ref ref ref, every time you lose, ref ref ref. Chin up and face reality Gunners fans. To challenge him to a game of table tennis. @akpoborie

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Man City to launch shock move for Torres

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an City are reportedly keen on signing Chelsea striker Fernando Torres according to Football Direct News.

Etihad Stadium boss Manuel Pellegrini is set to offload Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko and summer signing Stevan Jovetic, who has suffered with injuries all season, could be sacrificed as the Chilean looks to conduct a summer shake-up.

Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo will still act as Pellegrini’s first choice strike-pairing but the Man City boss

Torres

will look to supplement the pair with experienced Spaniard Torres.

The 29 year old cost Chelsea £50m and has come nowhere near justifying the British transfer record outlay and is now something of a bit-part player under boss Jose Mourinho.

Torres has started just 13 Premier League fixtures this term and his overall tally of 19 goals in 102 top tier appearances for the Blues is fairly woeful and one would imagine a Stamford Bridge exit is on the cards.

However it seems more likely that

Robben slams Wenger over ‘dive’ accusations

Luis Castro

Porto seek solace against Napoli

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fter a breakthrough win on Sunday, Porto will look to take another step forward against Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday.

Porto’s players should have a spring in their collective step when they host Napoli in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie with a new head coach, an in-form forward and the taste of victory on their tongues.

Interim head coach Luis Castro led Porto to a 4-1 win over lowly Arouca in the Primeira Liga on Sunday with Ricardo Quaresma - who only signed for the club in January - scoring twice to reach seven goals in 13 games for the reigning Portuguese champions.

Porto sacked former head coach Paulo Fonseca last week after their winless streak in all competitions stretched to four matches with Castro installed on a ‘temporary basis’.

Napoli will also enter the round-of-16 tie in third spot in their domestic league, three points behind Roma in Serie A, while Juventus are the runaway leaders in Italy, 14 ahead of the secondplaced capital club.

But Castro and his Porto charges will need to be wary of Napoli, who claimed an impressive 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday.

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fter the second leg at the Allianz Arena the Arsenal boss labelled the Dutchman “a great player and a very good diver” - a comment the player feels lacked class Arjen Robben has responded to Arsene Wenger’s accusations that he is a diver by suggesting that the Arsenal boss is acting like a smalltime manager.

The two men had a heated exchange on the touchline after Robben won the penalty which saw Wojciech Szczesny sent off in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last month, and Wenger was further enraged when the Dutchman went down under pressure from Laurent Koscielny in the box to win a spotkick which Thomas Muller missed at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening.

Robben

After the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Bayern triumphing 3-1 on aggregate, Wenger labelled Robben “a great player and a very good diver” - a comment the Bayern winger feels was classless.

Beckenbauer slams Guardiola’s tactics

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ayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer has slammed coach Pep Guardiola’s tactics, saying the team will end up becoming “unwatchable like Bacelona.”

The Bavarians remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga under the Spaniard and have a place in the last eight of the Champions League and the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal to look forward to.

However, the former West Germany international believes their style of play has gone backwards since the former Barca coach took over.

“In the end, we’ll be unwatchable like Barca. They’ll be passing it backwards on the goal-line,” he told Sky. “[My vision] is different. If I have the chance to shoot from distance, especially in front of a crowded defence.”

the former Liverpool man would seek a move to a club that could offer him regular first team football and a move back to La Liga seems more likely than a switch to Man City that would entail exchanging one bench for another.

Abbiati: Milan going in wrong direction

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ilan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati believes the club have “taken steps back” with recent performances.

The San Siro outfit have endured a difficult season domestically, currently sitting 10th in Serie A, and crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the last-16 stage with a 5-1 aggregate to defeat to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

Coach Clarence Seedorf took over from Massimiliano Allegri in January, but their 4-1 second-leg loss in the Spanish capital followed a 1-0 defeat at Udinese and a 2-0 reverse at home to Juventus, and Abbiati expressed concern that the team’s performances are deteriorating.

“It was a particular game and we’ve taken steps back with respect to recent performances,” he is quoted as saying

by Milan’s official website. “We didn’t play well in Udine and (on Tuesday) we definitely took another step back.

Abbiati

SPORT 55

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Jos court stops Nigeria Premier League

…League ‘ll go on -LMC Chimaobi Uchendu

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Jos court on Wednesday asked the Nigeria Football Federation, the League Management Company and the Federal Ministry of Sports not to proceed with the league season until it determines why Nembe football club of Brass and Giwa football club of Jos were expelled from the league.

In a court injunction granted by Justice Otitie Odigie, it instructed all parties involved in the organisation of the league to stop further action until all parties involved in the suit appear before the court on March 27.

According to officials of the affected clubs, NFF, LMC and the sports ministry had been served the court notice.

Mallam Salihu Abubakar, LMC Chief Operating Officer said that the league will go on, insisting that the court merely ordered the reinstatement of Giwa and not to stop the league.

When we contacted six clubs who are expected to be in League action today, they said they had already finished formalities for their matches but insisted that unless they are communicated by the LMC they would go ahead with their matches.

It could be recalled LMC Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar, last Friday, expelled Nembe and Giwa through a letter made available to the media.

The letter stated that both clubs failed to meet the minimum registration requirement stipulated by the league body.

League action between Enyimba and Sunshine last season

I’m ready for Glasgow - Osonaike Why Nigeria has not won wrestling

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

in competitions in Europe because players of various origins are in Germany.

We always discuss future events that could make us play one another. In Glasgow, I will meet many ladies I know and so one is always hoping to get better results at international stage.

“Such is the expectation when it comes to event like Commonwealth Games. Again, I have my integrity at stake and I want to win for my country.

I want Nigeria to be number one always with my efforts.”

Osonaike adjusted her training

schedule since September in preparation for the Glasgow event.

The SC Poppebuttel player added, “There is much to be done by an individual athlete and then one will key into the national programme. I cannot wait for the Team Nigeria preparations because there are plenty things to be done. I have started since first week of September and my club has been very supportive in this special arrangement just to boost my game in readiness for Glasgow.

“I am also happy that the world championship is holding in April and that will serve as a good prelude to the games. I am personally ready for Glasgow. I try to challenge myself with every competition to bring out my best.”

Osonaike however showered praises on the current board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation led by Enitan Osodi for doing a good job.

“I am impressed with the way the players at home are being engaged and we can see improvement to demonstrate the seriousness of the board. The players are also happy and challenged to produce results, “she stressed.

Olympic gold –Victor Kodei

Chimaobi Uchendu

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he Technical Director of Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Victor Kodei, has advanced reasons behind Nigeria’s failure to win an Olympic gold in wrestling even when the right athletes abound.

In an interview with New Telegraph, the Commonwealth Games three time gold medallist said the right men had not been allowed to groom wrestlers for major competitions.

He further said that delay in the release of funds for competitions had robbed Nigeria glory severally.

He said his coming on board as technical director of the Wrestling federation would bring fortune change for the sport which Nigeria

U-17: Mbachu gives Flamingoes success tips Mercy Jacob

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s the Flamingoes gets set to commence hostilities in their first group match against the Republic

Ike Uche: Keshi, NFF on collision course C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 1

Authoritative sources revealed that members of the Technical Committee were dissatisfied with the performance of Eagles strikers in the friendly match against Mexico and felt Nigeria must present the best players for the tournament.

Our correspondent leant that the committee had already officially told Keshi that Ike Uche be given the opportunity to fight for his place in the

team and could be forced on the coach if he tries to stick to his guns.

“Keshi and the committee might fight again because of Uche,” a member of the committee said “We have taken our position on this matter and Keshi knows that he has to at least give everybody a chance. You can see that a lot still need to be done about that team with the way we played against Mexico.

“You can see that our attack has been the problem lately. It happened at the Confederations Cup and it was

has comparative advantage.

“I made my international debut in wrestling at the All Africa Games in 1987 with a silver medal and followed up the subsequent edition by winning a gold medal. I also clinched my first Commonwealth gold medal in 1987, I repeated the feat in 1989 and 2004.

“But I never won an Olympic medal because we were never tutored the right techniques. If I had been tutored the right techniques I would have delivered a gold medal.

‘The same thing is still happening in our camp now but I have come to change all that. Countries and athletes that win wrestling gold medal concentrate on certain weights and technique but we take every session with all categories.”

evident too in the game against Mexico.

Ike Uche is our best striker now in Europe whether we like it or not and we have to go to the World Cup with the best. We would have to force Uche on him if that is what will happen. Let me tell you this, you may not know, there were some players in the team now that Keshi did not want to take to the last Africa Nations Cup but we suggested those youngsters to him and today they have become one of the most important players in the team.”

of China in the FIFA U-17 women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, former female football star, Stella Mbachu, has given the Bala Nkiyu-led girls three tips that would help them win the trophy.

Mbachu while speaking to New Telegraph on the telephone, expressed confidence in the girls and charged them not to leave behind them the 3Ds, which she said are Dedication, Determination and Discipline in each of their games if they want to make impact at the World Cup. “I have been with the girls and I have also watched them play. I have advised them on how to make it in their career at the world stage and with what I had seen the girls do, I would say Nigerians should go to sleep, there is nothing to worry about, because the team has bundle of talents good enough to rewrite history.

On Marble The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

– Winston Churchill

World Record

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 THURSday, MARCH 13, 2014.

India has the highest percentage of the world’s poor with 41.01%, followed

by China with 22.12%. Nigeria is third with 8.03%

N150

2015 aspirants and descendants of Abimelech

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hey are already being recruited.

The third-person plural ‘they’ in this piece is what the Bible referred to in Judges 9:4 as “vain and light persons”.

In Nigeria, we know them as thugs.

Individually and collectively, they straddle the country, and their paymasters are determined to recruit more of these blood-thirsty maniacs in their (paymasters’) determination to continuously unleash terror on patriotic Nigerians and diminish us in the comity of nations.

These paymasters are politicians who have vowed to destroy Nigeria and Nigerians if they don’t have their way to rule the country forever. They have foolishly succumbed to the coinage ‘Out of power is out of influence’ to the extent that they are determined to remain in power or corridors of power, using every means - crude and maniacal.

But because they are not students of history, they quickly forget that despite leaving office after spending one term in 1999, former South African President, the late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, was not only influential but was turned into an international institution till he became history on December 5, 2013.

In a most gruesome way which is an indication of the level to which the country has sunk, lives of Nigerians are no longer worth more than a few naira notes, just because some people must occupy public office by force. The approach of these desperate politicians to ‘grabbing’ power is primitive and stomach-churning because it will be pointless, trying to, in this piece, recount the number of Nigerians who have been subjected to senseless killings in the hands of paid killers.

Penultimate week, close to 200 Nigerians, including innocent pupils, were massacred in the North. In the South, kidnappers, robbers and ritual killers are also on the rampage.

In 2012, there was this report of a shepherd in charge of a church who engaged some of these “vain and light persons” to kill his mother.

Reason: He was told by those who are far too gone in the spiritism world that it was after beheading his mother that membership of his church would quadruple and poverty would become history in his life. The mother survived and since then, this cleric has been on the run.

Among politicians, it is worse. Recently, Lagos State Police Commissioner, Umar Manko, told members of the House of Assembly that politicians were responsible for the upsurge in thuggery and crimes in the land.

TALKING TOUGH GABRIEL AKINADEWO He said: “When the police arrest suspected criminals and charge them, the suspects soon find their way out probably because they have some politicians and top society people backing them.

“My duty as a policeman is to arrest them and take them to court, but some of these criminals still come back into the society after some time. Some of the boys used during campaigns by politicians later turn out to be cultists.”

Because of the official backing given to this menace, thugs are now everywhere, council, state and federal levels.

Predictably, the number will increase soon because they are desperately needed for the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections on June 21 and August 9 this year, preparatory to the final showdown in 2015.

Without having access to unlimited fund/deep pocket, the recruitment of thugs will not see the light of the day. So, everything must be done to loot the treasury. The series of multi-billion dollar scandals flying all over the country – Ministry of Aviation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) – are traceable to the devilish ‘Abimelechic’ ambition of this desperate class to rule by force.

This desperation clearly underscores the principle of having a deep pocket to control the minds of voters and where they are not controllable, induce thugs and killers financially to forcefully control voters. In essence, any voter who wants to be patriotic by not allowing himself to be bribed before and during election, will see his patriotism as a wasteful exercise because in his presence, votes would be manipulated. Due to their lack of second addresses, some of these desperate politicians, who are still in office, are determined to retain

These descendants of Abimelech have adopted the war code of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler: “Close your hearts to pity. Act brutally”

their posts. Others have also vowed to displace them. And since the conventional security agents must not be seen to be involved in horrendous acts, then, thugs must do the job. But why are we like this in this country?

Students of the Bible read the story of a felon called Abimelech in Judges 9.

Abimelech did not care about the land of Israel. He was only concerned about how to become the king. Knowing that he was not entitled to occupy the post (he was born by a harlot - Judges 8:31), the only thing for him was to kill 70 of his brothers. The action was gruesome in the sense that the 70 siblings were murdered “upon one stone” (Judges 9:5).

Prior to this, he knew he must engage the services of thugs and to execute this, money must play a key role. That was why he conspired with his mother’s brethren in Shechem, got 70 pieces of silver from the house of Baalberith (their own CBN and NNPC) and used it to hire the thugs who slew 70 of his siblings.

In the build up to the 2015 elections, all hell is being let loose by some desperate aspirants who have the blood of Abimelech flowing in their veins. Given their background and pedigree, many of these aspirants are not fit to occupy public office but since anything goes in the country, they must do everything possible to occupy it by force.

Gideon, Abimelech’s father, judged the land of Israel conscientiously. That was why there was peace in the land for 40 years. The moment his father died, Abimelech, who had been nursing this inordinate ambition, struck.

The same is happening today in Nigeria. Many of these aspirants want to be in position of power “by any means necessary”. It can be argued that founding fathers of this country were patriotic in the way they handled the affairs of the land but can the same be said of our politicians today?

In their mad pursuit for power, these descendants of Abimelech have adopted the war code of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, who told his war commanders when the Second World War started on September 1, 1939,

“Close your hearts to pity. Act brutally”.

As we progress towards the next round of elections, further killings by these savages will diminish us as a people and show that we still operate the worst form of bestiality.

One thing is clear. All through history, from the medieval to the modern era, there is always an Abimelech in every family, initially pretending to be good and eventually striking when the opportunity beckons. He or she can even create the opportunity and people, who are not students of history, will be wondering why such a ‘dove’ has suddenly turned to a ‘vampire’.

So, if there are Abimelechs in families, and families make up villages, towns, cities and states, then there must be millions of Abimelechs in a country.

Historically, the end of blood-thirsty maniacs is always predictable. Initially, they will form an alliance but eventually, they turn against themselves. The story of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin is a classical example when Hitler invaded Russia on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa).

The same happened between Abimelech and the people of Shechem when God sent an evil spirit between them (Judges 9:23).

Every Abimelech will never listen to the voice of reason. Rather, it is that ambition that will continue to becloud his sense of reasoning and judgement, eventually leading him to a disgraceful, inglorious, destructive and inescapable end.

Obviously, most of our aspirants are like Abimelech. Will Nigeria and Nigerians allow these desperate politicians, who have adopted the Abimelech Code: “Behead as many people as possible as long as you get into office,” have their way in 2015?

God is permanently on His throne.

OmoBaba

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