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NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Vol. 1 No. 210

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FG considers $20bn offer to sell transmission assets Adeola Yusuf

he Federal Government is considering offer of over $20 billion to sell the assets of its national electricity transmission company, the Transmission Com-

pany of Nigeria (TCN). Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, told Bloomberg Television Africa in an interview in Abuja that the assets sale plan would start in a few years. “The interest now for

transmission is over $20 billion. People are coming from everywhere,” he stated. He added that the sale was expected to boost power generation to meet up with the growing demand.

Officials are deciding which model to adopt for the company’s sale. Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board of Canada’s three-year management contract ends next year. The process could take the form of a public-pri-

vate partnership, a concession or a build-operate-transfer, Nebo said. Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, generates about 4, 000 Mega Watts (MW) for its teeming population of about 170 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Nebo

Boko Haram: Reps to probe security budget

lSect abducts women, children in Adamawa }3

Quick Read Editorial Not yet DISCO time for electricity consumers }19

S'Africa probes Nigerians, Israeli over $9.3m cash seizure }5 Appeal Court orders Rep to vacate seat for defecting }6 Air France, Lufthansa suspend flights to Nigeria }4 Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina (fourth left); Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau; Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and President Goodluck Jonathan with a delegation from the Society for Protection of Women Against Abuse (SOPWA), after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

I tamed Amaechi, says police chief Mbu LAGOS

Storms

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Emmanuel Onani

he war of words between Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, and Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike

Amaechi, raged on yesterday with the police chief saying he tamed the governor during his tour of duty in the state. Mbu, who was the commissioner of police in the state before he was transferred to head the Federal

Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command and his subsequent promotion, said at the handing over to his successor in the FCT, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, that he checked Amaechi's "excesses" while he was in the state.

Mbu, in an apparent response to Amaechi's criticism last Thursday that he was a politician in police uniform, said as a "lion”, he was able to tame the "leopard" in Port Harcourt. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Suntai relocates to Danjuma’s residence }3

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

NEWS

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Boko Haram: Reps to probe security budget Louis Achi, Philip Nyam and Ibrahim Abdul

s the House of Representatives reconvenes today to begin consideration of the $1 billion foreign loan request by President Goodluck Jonathan, it has called on him to investigate how the Defence Headquarters and other security agencies have spent budgetary allocations to the defence sector. Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Albert SamTsokwa, told reporters yesterday in Abuja that in view of the huge sum of money being allocated to the sector yearly and the formidable challenge faced by the military from Boko Haram, there was need to look inward. He spoke just as Jonathan turned spiritual in his efforts to tame the insurgents who have killed about 4,000 people this year alone and have launched spirited attacks on towns and villages in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States in a bid to carve a territory for themselves. Besides, the terror group in a fresh offensive at the weekend, kidnapped women and children in a raid on Gulak, Adamawa State. Sam-Tsokwa, who unfolded the priorities of the legislature on resumption, said the lawmakers would demand a probe into defence spending to ensure that the nation got value for the huge sums it had put in the sector in a bid to curb insurgency. “In doing that, we would tell the president to investigate the spending of the military to know the true position on the state of the nation or we would be forced to take up the matter," he added. According to him, information coming out on the activities of Boko Haram unleashing terror on soldiers is worrisome; therefore, the House wants the president to do soul searching. He said: "I don't think that our inability to contain insurgency is due lack of funds because never in the history of the Nigeria has huge fund being appropriated for defence. I think Mr. President should look inward and find out exactly what is happening to the defence budget. "That's why military personnel on official assignment are being attacked freely; the Boko

Haram members are nonentities. Why are they having an upper hand? Let the president do an in-house search, but certainly there are enemies within." Sam-Tsokwa also said the House would discuss the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and efforts taken to contain it. "Significantly as we resume, we have certain pressing issues, first we have the Ebola issue which is so threatening. “Just before we proceeded on recess, we passed a resolution, urging the Federal Government to put in place measures to forestall its spread to Nigeria from other West African countries; although the president had taken measures we still want to be very sure that the virus is completely contained in the country,” he added. The insurgency ravaging the country also engaged the attention of the president yesterday in Warri as he urged Nigerians to pray for the defeat of Boko Haram. The president, represented by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, said in an address at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference that the Federal Government would not be able to defeat terror without the support of the people. “I need the cooperation of the entire country in the fight against Boko Haram. In doing this Nigerians should also pray for the defeat of Boko Haram,” he stated. As the president was appealing for support to defeat Boko Haram, there was a report that the insurgents raided Gulak and abducted women and children. Witnesses who fled the area said the insurgents embarked on a house-tohouse search to abduct their victims who were put in vehicles and driven to an unknown destination. One of the residents, Buba Gulak, said: "They were shouting 'Allah Akbar' (God is great) and shooting sporadically. There was confusion everywhere. They started packing our women and children into their vehicles, threatening to shoot whoever disobeyed them. Everybody was scared." A security said they were aware of the incident but were still investigating the details. ‘’Yes, we have been told that members of the sect (Boko Haram) have kid-

napped several women and children, though we are yet to get the full details,’’ he said. Another resident, Bitrus Musa, said the group kidnapped at least about 70 women in Gulak town. Also, a community leader who asked not to be named, told reporters in a telephone interview that he was trapped in a village near Gulak before he escaped on Sunday. "Several women were loaded onto several vans and then taken away. Some women brought the news that Boko Haram forcibly took some of them away, including a sister-in-law to a friend of mine. The situation is getting worse by the day and our hope is

that this problem will end one day,” he added. A former Chairman of Madagali Local Government Area, Mr. Maina Ularamu, while confirming the incident, said: “The information I have is that they selected some women and locked them in the local government secretariat.” However, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has reaffirmed its determination to cage the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria as well as other regional threats. ECOWAS Commission President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said yesterday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 10th annual

ECOWAS development partners coordination meeting that stabilising the region, ensuring peace and security would top the agenda of ECOWAS. Ouedraogo told New Telegraph that the region should not expect a world where there would not be any security threat and assured the international community that ECOWAS would curtail the menace to its barest minimum. According to him, the objective of ECOWAS is not to let the insurgents destabilise countries in the sub-region but to degrade the insurgents' ability to threaten the security and peace of the population of the sub-region. Meanwhile, the result of the Senior School

Certificate Examination (SSCE) taken by students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State before over 200 girls participating in the examination were abducted by the Boko Haram sect members may be released soon. Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, said yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Education that the Federal Government would, however, have to review the result before releasing it. He explained that the government decided to review the result as a result of the circumstances under which the examination was conducted.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, with the new state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Achong, during a courtesy visit to the governor in Uyo...yesterday.

Suntai relocates to Danjuma’s residence

lGovernment House deserted Onyekachi Eze and Sabiu Mustapha

he ailing governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Suntai, might have been moved from General Theophilus Danjuma's guest house in Asokoro, Abuja to one of the private houses of the former Defence Minister. The governor, who was flown into the country from the United Kingdom on Sunday where he underwent medical treatment, was taken to the guest house where he met with some of his supporters. A source disclosed that the relocation to a private

home was to avoid further distraction, especially those who might want to ascertain the true health situation of the governor. Taraba State Executive Council had, last week, passed a resolution calling for the institution of a medical panel to determine the state of health of the governor. His sudden return may have been to prevent the plan of the state exco from setting up the panel. When Suntai was brought back to the country early this year, he was unable to assume office despite the claims by his aides that he had fully recovered and ready to

resume duties. Garba Umar, who has been acting since the governor had a crash on October 26, 2012, was not allowed to see Suntai when he arrived at the airport, given an indication that he might not have been fully recovered. Meanwhile, the Taraba State Government House, Jalingo, was deserted yesterday as the Acting Governor, Umar, has relocated to Abuja since Suntai returned to the country on Saturday. When our correspondent visited the Government House, all official activities in the seat of government were para-

lysed. Only a few domestic workers were seen carrying out their routine work. Renovation works were being carrying out at the Government House with the fence of the governor’s residence and other buildings within the premises already painted. New billboards with goodwill messages for the returning governor were seen mounted at the Government House gate. There was no official announcement on when the governor will return to the state, but there are speculations that the governor will return to Taraba this week.

NEWS

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Air France, Lufthansa hit by strikes, suspend flights to Nigeria Wole Shadare Paris

ir France is facing its most disruptive pilots’ strike since 1998 while Lufthansa Airline is bracing for another walkout today as both carriers confront workers’ resistance to sweeping overhauls aimed at cutting costs. Consequently, Air France, one of Europe’s mega airlines yesterday suspended flights to Nigeria and some other countries, following the decision of the carrier’s pilots to embark on strike. The pilots are protesting against a transfer of jobs by the airline to a low-cost carrier to keep up with competition. The company has urg ed passeng ers around the world to change or postpone travel. Sixty per cent of pilots of the French airline walked out over plans to expand low-cost operations with flight crews paid less than at the main carrier. At Lufthansa, which

has suffered a series of strikes over retirement benefits this year, pilots flying long-haul aircraft from Frankfurt will halt work from today. Senior Vice President, Air France-KLM, Frank Legre told New Telegraph exclusively in Paris at France’s “France in the Air” exhibition that showcase the firms over 500 million Euros investment in new seats in economy, business and first class cabins, said the strike would cost the airline 10m to 15m euros (£8m £12m) a day, adding that

the carrier will run less than 50 per cent per cent of normal flights. He disclosed that flights to Nigeria would not operate yesterday. The management of the airline were seen trying to rebook passengers on other airlines who are on the same global airlines alliance. For the flight to Lagos, the airline put a few passengers whose trips are very urgent on Air Maroc while others were checked into hotels in line with global practice. They were also given meal vouchers to

take care of their needs pending when the matter is resolved. At the Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris, regarded as the second busiest airport in the world, travellers were seen trying to make alternative arrangement for their trips. Spokesperson for the airline in Nigeria, Mrs. Funmilayo Ojesina, confirmed the strike but gave assurance that the crisis would come to an end quickly. The airline said it would consider negotiation on benefits based on

seniority for Air France pilots who agree to work for Transavia. Air France’s Head of Operations, Catherine Jude, said at the carrier’s Paris Charles de Gaulle airport base, “We’re telling people who don’t absolutely have to travel to postpone their trip.” “We expect about 85,000 passengers to face flight cancellations or delays on Monday and we have already alerted tens of thousands more of the possibility of disruptions later in the week,” she added.

PORT HARCOURT

31o C 21oC Rain Storms

KANO

33o C 22oC Thunder Storms

ENUGU

26o C 22oC Storms

IBADAN

30o C 22oC Storms

CALABAR

26o C 21oC Storms

MAIDUGURI

35o C 23oC Storms

ONITSHA

29o C 23oC Storms

AEROCONTRACTORS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30

OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00

27o C 22oC Storms

FIRST NATION AIRWAYS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45 (SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50

MEDVIEW AIRLINES LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST ABUJA

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; representative of Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mallami Maccido; Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola; Serikin Yorubawa of Sokoto, Alhaji Isiaka Usman and member, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni, during a condolence visit to Aregbesola over the death of President General, League of Imams and Alfas in South-West, Alhaji Sheik Mustapha Ajisafe, in Osogbo…at the weekend.

FG considers $20bn offer to sell transmission assets CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

million people. The government, he said, would also focus on developing renewable energy projects to diversify its supply of electricity. Transmission is the only segment of the power industry that the government still controls as it seeks to curb regular blackouts in Nigeria. "The country generates about a 10th of the power that South Africa does even though its population of about 170 million is more than three times larger," he stated. The Federal Government is already spending $3.5 billion to boost transmission capacity by 50 per cent. Nigeria sold 15 stateowned generation and distribution companies

in a privatisation exercise, which climaxed on November 1, 2013 with the handing over of assets to new owners. This exercise is to raise funds to boost transmission capacity. Nebo, however, said the current transmission capacity of Abuja-based TCN is 5,500 megawatts compared with an installed generation capacity of 8,000 megawatts. This means that if generation companies were operating at full capacity, the grid will be unable to transmit all of the power to homes. The government wants transmission capacity to exceed 6,000 megawatts by 2016, Nebo said. Power generation is significantly lower than capacity, partially due to

problems of transporting gas to power plants. “Gas supply has been a limiting factor,” said Nebo, who is working with Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to make enough gas available to generation companies to match the transmission capacity by the end of next year. “Nigeria is moving in the direction of trying to have a robust energy mix,” he said. Coal is another resource that could generate 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts of power “in the next several years” after government reclaims unused coal blocks, the minister said. “We are working on making sure those coal blocks are taken away

from those who have refused to develop them over the decades and are given to those who can actually develop them,” he said. According to him, while divesting from most other parts of the power industry, the government is planning to invest more in renewable energy such as solar and hydro power. “The government is very intent on making sure that the renewable energies kick off because we cannot continue to depend on only one or two means to continue giving electricity to our people,” the minister said, citing the planned 700-megawatt and 3,050-megawatt hydropower plants in Zungeru and Mambila.

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

NEWS

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

PIB, Ebola, confab report, MTEF top agenda as Senate resumes

Adeola Yusuf and Chukwu David

he newly-drafted copy of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will be laid before the Senate on or before Thursday, the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon said yesterday. This fresh attempt to lay PIB on the floor of the Senate by the 7th Assembly will be the fifth time in the history of the 15-year old bill and it is coming in less than six months before the expiration of the present

National Assembly. "The committee on the bill has concluded works on it," Solomon said in an interview monitored on Lagos Television, adding that the PIB "is one of the bills that are to be laid this week." The resumption of the Senate, according to the two-term Senator representing Lagos West, is to conclude works on critical bills like the PIB. "PIB is one of the bills that are to be laid this week, if not tomorrow or next day. It is a bill that is very important and this explains reasons it has

generated a lot of interests from stakeholders. "The committee on the bill has concluded works on it and I can assure you that this bill is going to be laid Thursday, if not Wednesday," he said. Immediate past President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), George Osahon, said that Nigeria’s target of 40 billion barrels oil reserves would remain ‘a tall dream’ if the footdragging on the PIB passage continues. “That we are yet to have the bill has impli-

cations on exploration activities in the country and it is in the interest of all of us that the bill is passed,” he said. Inter national Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria have said that the delay in the passage of the PIB has completely slowed down their N17.2 trillion ($109 billion) proposed investments in the oil industry. Meanwhile, as the Senate resumes today from its eight weeks annual recess, issues that will top the agenda of the Upper Chamber include: the PIB, Ebola

L-R: Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and former Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Senator Iya Abubakar, at the Bamanga Tukur International Legacy Lecture in Abuja …yesterday

I tamed Amaechi, says police chief Mbu CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Amaechi, while receiving Mbu's successor in Rivers State, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, who has just being promoted AIG, had said Mbu nearly crippled the economy of the state with his partisanship. Ogunsakin was at the Government House to bid the governor farewell and introduce his successor, Mr. Dan Bature, to him. Mbu, while charging his successor to be firm in the discharge of his responsibilities, said: "It's only lions who can tame the leopards. Like

when I was in Port Harcourt, the leopard there, I tamed him." He warned Inalegwu against showing sentiments in the discharge of his duties, saying such disposition could hasten failure. Mbu also said under no circumstances should his successor demand gratification from Divisional Police Officers (DPOs). "Do not apply sentiments when you are doing police work because you are going to fail. I have sworn to an oath of allegiance and loyalty to the Federal Republic of

Nigeria. Anybody who crosses my path, I will crush him or her. "The moment you start asking DPOs to bring cows or building materials, you have ruined yourself," Mbu stated. He also urged Inalegwu to give priority to the welfare of officers and men and not to deal directly with members of the rank and file. He said: "Whatever relationship you have with your officers, none should predict your actions. Build confidence in your men, and rank and file will trust you

and give you information." Responding, Inalegwu promised to build on the achievements of Mbu. He also said the police "must adopt communityoriented policing" as well as "acceptable international best practices." Meanwhile, the FCT police command yesterday displayed 13 cars of assorted brands, recovered from armed robbers. The command also paraded seven suspected armed robbers, from whom the stolen cars were recovered.

Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak, constitution review, Electoral Act, Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2015 and confab report. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, gave this indication while fielding questions from the Senate Press Corps who went to his office to get the schedules of the Senate in today's order paper. He said that the Senate would between September and November this year receive and consider the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) from President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 budget estimates. "As we resume this September, we are likely, under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, to receive from Mr. President the revenue framework. This will state how much is most likely to be spent next year; how much is going to be from oil, nonoil and what is going to be exchange rate as well as oil benchmark and the borrowing plan. “It is when we consider that, that the template and the new framework for the budget would be ready. All these would

have to be considered between September and November to enable Mr. President prepare and lay the budget before the National Assembly. We are taking account of all these in preparing for resumption of the Senate.” He also explained that the Senate did not reconvene to consider the $1billion loan request by President Jonathan for funding the military operations in the North East because there was no communication from Mr. President requesting the lawmakers to reconvene. Enang, however, noted that the President of the Senate, David Mark, would today roll out the detailed agenda of the Senate for the fourth session of the seventh Senate On the report of the National Conference, the senator who represents Akwa Ibom North East said the Senate would subject the report to legislative process when received from President Jonathan. On the insurgency in the North East, he argued that the National Assembly had always treated security issues with dispatch and would continue to do so.

South Africa probes Nigerians, Israeli over $9.3m cash seizure

outh African police are investigating two Nigerians and an Israeli citizen who tried to bring $9.3 million cash into the country illegally. The money was meant for arms deal. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) seized the funds at Lanseria airport, northwest of Johannesburg, on September 5. The funds are being held at the Central Bank as police investigate, SARS spokeswoman Marika Muller said. "The passengers' luggage was searched after Customs officials detected irregularities. The money was detained as it was undisclosed/un-

declared and above the prescribed legal limit," Muller said in a statement. South Africa's City Press newspaper reported that bundles of unused $100 bills packed in three suitcases were transported in a small business jet from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, reports Reuters. The three passengers said they were using it to buy arms for the Nigerian security services, the newspaper said. South African airport security spokesman Solomon Makgale confirmed a police investigation was underway but declined to give details.

NEWS

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Defection: Appeal Court orders Rep to vacate seat Babatope Okeowo Akure

he Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, yesterday declared the seat of a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ifedayo Sunday Abegunde, representing Akure South/North federal constituency vacant following his defection from Labour Party (LP) to All Progressives Congress (APC). The appellate court hinged its decision on the violation of the provision of the section 68 (1) (g) of the1999 Constitution by the lawmakers when there was no division in the party through which he secured the National Assembly seat.

The five-man panel of the appellate court presided over by Justice A. G. Mshelia said the failure of the litigant to adhere to the constitutional process of defecting from one party to another negate the constitution and should therefore vacate the seat. Abegunde had defected from the ruling LP to rival APC shortly after he was elected as a federal lawmaker over what he called division within the ruling party in the state. In order to prevent his recall from the green chamber, Abegunde through his lawyer, Prof. Yemi Osibajo (SAN) sought the protection of the Federal High Court. He asked the court to pronounce that the divi-

sion within the LP facilitated his defection to the APC. In his originating summons, he sought the determination of whether or not in view of the provisions of section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, he is not entitled to dump the LP to another party especially when there is division within his former party.

However, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), filed a counter-claim, insisting among others that he should automatically vacate the seat having left the LP that sponsored him into the National Assembly. The trial court presided by Justice C. Okeke in his ruling in 2012 upheld the position of the state Attorney General that

the lawmaker should vacate his seat. Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, Abegunde asked the appellate court to upturn the judgement of the lower court and pronounce a division within the LP. After the exchange of briefs and written addresses by the plaintiff and defendants, the court dismissed the appeal filed by the lawmaker

and upheld the decision of the lower court. Aside from setting aside the written address of the lawmaker, the presiding judge said the appellant had violated section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution and should therefore vacate his seat. But in his reaction, Abegunde said he would seek redress at the Supreme Court and urged his supporters to remain calm.

80m Nigerians lack access to power –UN Johnchuks Onuanyim and Onyekachi Eze Abuja

he United Nations yesterday stated that 80 million Nigerians lack access to power. Nigeria’s population is estimated at 160 million. Under-Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Dr. Kandeh Yumkela, made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the second legacy lecture series to celebrate Dr. Bamanga Tukur's 79th birthday. Yumkela added that 600 million Africans don't have access to electricity. The Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy for all Initiative of the UN posited that for Africa to double her energy capacity from 150 gegawatts to 300 gegawatts, the continent needs $40 billion every year for the next 15-20 years. Yumkela, who was the guest lecturer at the event, noted that politics, public policy, pricing and public private partnership are factors responsible for energy problem. "If you don't have those four aligned properly you will not be able to provide energy access to all the people,” he said. On Nigerian energy shortage, he said: "The estimate is that Nigeria

probably has between 70 and 80 million people without electricity. "Nigeria is a significant part of African energy poverty. However, there is more statistics that is more frightening. Still in Africa, about 80 per cent of Africans rely on firewood and charcoal for their primary energy needs particularly cooking, which also result to about 800,000 premature deaths every year." Speaking on energy problem in Africa, he said: "Today, the world faces some significant challenges in terms of looking at the trend of increase in energy demand. Energy demand will increase at 60-70 per cent in the next 30-35 years. We know climate change is also worsening it. "Africa remains the most energy poor globally. Six hundred million Africans have no access to electricity. We also see a connection between energy demand and water demand and we see climate change as a major risk multiplier, lowering water levels. And if we continue to emitting greenhouse gases, climate change will worsen and our energy challenges will increase significantly,” he said. In his remarks, Tukur noted that energy “is the greatest challenge we are having in the country. We need to be energy secured."

L-R: Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau; Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Offiong Offiong and President, All Nigerian Confederation of Principal of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Abdulrahamn Fatima, during a meeting with the House of PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI Representatives Committee on Education in Abuja…yesterday.

Shell divests from eight crude oil fields in five years

hell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has confirmed that it had divested eight Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) in Nigeria from 2010 to date. Shell Media Relations Manager Precious Okolobo said in Lagos that SPDC had sold its interests in OML 4, 38 and 41 which were sold on July 30, 2010. Others are OML 26 and 42 which sold on November 30, 2011; OML 40 on August 31, 2012; OML 34 on September 5, 2012 and OML 30 on November 9, 2012, respectively. The OMLs divested in the Eastern Niger Delta region are 26, 30, 34, 40, 42, 4, 41 and 38, while another four had been pencilled for divestment before 2015. It would be recalled that the first set of oil fields sold by Shell were oil mining leases (OMLs) 4, 38 and 41 acquired and operated by Seplat Petro-

leum Development Company. OMLs 26, 30, 34, 40 and 42 were acquired by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). Okolobo said that in June 2013, SPDC also announced a strategic review of its operations in the Eastern Niger Delta, which could result in the divestment of some of its interests there. “The assets under consideration are OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, but the process has not yet concluded. “We have signed Sales and Purchase Agreements for some of the Oil Mining Leases, but not all that we are seeking to divest. In the event of a successful completion of the sales process we shall make a market announcement,” he said. Okolobo said that Nigeria remained an important part of Shell’s

portfolio, “where we will continue to have a significant onshore presence in oil and gas, and which has clear growth potential, particularly in deep-water and onshore gas.” He said that Shell had a history of over 50 years in Nigeria and remained committed to the country and to supporting the government of Nigeria in its plans for the oil and gas sector. NAN gathered that Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Nigeria’s biggest crude oil producer, is advancing plans to complete sale of four oil blocks in Eastern Niger Delta to meet its target of $15 billion from assets sales between 2014 and 2015. The assets under consideration are oil mining leases (OMLs) 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line. The battle for acquisition of these four oil blocks has been raging

since the beginning of the year. Some major stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry were opposed to some preferred bidders, which has been one of the major reasons the deal had not been sealed. Currently, Midwestern Oil and Gas/Mart Resources/Suntr ust Oil, under the Erotron Consortium, won the bid for OML 18 while Aiteo/ Taleveras in partnership with four other companies made up the consortium that won bid for OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk line. OML 29 is considered the juiciest of the blocks. The preferred bidder for OML 24 is Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria Limited, while Lekoil, Crestar, Green Acres/ CCC/Signet Petroleum, NDPR/SAPETRO and Essar, as a consortium, is being considered for OML 25.

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

search Rough terrain and turbulent weather make rescue efforts difficult in the Sahel Anule Emmanuel uthorities of the Nigerian Air Force yesterday clarified that there was no issues of sabotage about the Air Force fighter jet, which went missing after a military operation in Konduga, Borno State, last Friday. Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Amosu, stated this at the presiden-

Missing jet: Amosu rules out sabotage tial villa, Abuja, after a closed door meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo. Speaking to State House Correspondents, the Air Chief said the area where the incident occurred was a distance just from Maiduguri to Yola, whose air space is in full control of the military. He said: "Sabotage no, because it is a distance of just from Maiduguri to Yola. We are in full control of the air space. But don't forget that when you lose radio signal, it becomes very challenging. There

3.51

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Pakistan in 2010 Source: Itu.int

are so many possibilities but we are working on it." Amosu noted that "One of our Alpha Jets went on routine operation in the North East and they lost contact with the control tower and that made us to immediately initiate search." According to him, the weather has not been helpful with attempts by the military to track the whereabout of the missing jet. "We have deployed all our surveillance capability; the citizens have been very, very helpful and we have got good information from them. But you know,

The life expectancy at birth (in years) of men in Comoros in 2010-2015 Source: Un.org

in the aviation sector, we have some specific information that we ought to have to make the search easy." "But the information we are getting from the citizens is good but not sufficient enough for us to define the area of search. We have an idea of where the aircraft could be. Do not forget that it is the open Sahel. He added that "Some people may think it is easy but in the open Sahel, sometimes, it is even very challenging. Human beings standing may look like

$181.9bn. The nominal GDP of Singapore (World Bank) in 2009. Source: Blatantworld.com

L-R: Prime Minister, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. Augustin Matata Ponyo; Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Gerd Muller; Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission, Mr. Erastus Mwencha and Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, at a conference with the theme: "Africa, a Continent of Opportunities: Which Role for Development Cooperation," in Berlin, Germany

Yakasai blasts Northern politicians

DHQ raises alarm over fake Facebook accounts on CDS

Onyekachi Eze

Emmanuel Onani he Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday, raised the alarm over the existence of fake Facebook accounts allegedly operated in the name of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh. A statement signed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said the fake accounts created by fraudsters, are operated by different fake identities and photographs of the CDS. It maintained that Badeh neither operates a private nor official Facebook account. While dissociating the office of the CDS from any Facebook account, purportedly belonging to Badeh, the DHQ, however, warned that it will not be

ABUJA

he Northern Elders' Tdissociated Council (NEC) has itself from

the press conference by the Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhjai Ibrahim Coomasie, where he said President Goodluck Jonathan does not like the North. NEC Chair man, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, said such statement did not represent the opinion of the people of the region nor did it represent the attitude of majority of northern leadership to the Jonathan administration. Yakasai observed that since the emergence of the current leadership of ACF, "there has been a derailment and non-

compliance with the mission and vision of the founding fathers of the forum". The elder statesman, who said only himself, former civilian president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Ambassador Maitama Sule, are the surviving founding members of ACF, noted that "a motley crowd of desperate politicians" have hijacked the machinery of ACF. "It is becoming more and more isolationist even within the region. This has greatly degraded the respectability and non-partisanship of the ACF," he said. Yakasai regretted the way and manner the ACF chairman addressed President Jonathan in his press conference, describing it as outrageous and uncharitable.

responsible for any transaction emanating from the said online accounts. The statement reads: "The general public is hereby alerted of the existence of fake Facebook accounts on the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal AS Badeh. "The Facebook accounts created by some cyber fraudsters, go by different fake identities and official photographs of the Chief of Defence Staff. "The Defence Headquarters wishes to state clearly that the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh, does not operate either official or private Facebook account. "The Defence Headquarters, therefore, dissociates the office of the Chief of Defence Staff from these fraudulent Facebook accounts."

trees and again the area we are talking about we have operations going on there and we have limitations as to how low we come to conduct the search. I am hopeful that before the end of the day or week, we should be able to provide credible information as to the location of the aircraft

and then the pilots." The Air Chief is however, hopeful that the two pilots manning the jet would be safe. "But one thing is clear: Whatever problem they had, an ejection was contemplated; it is therefore my hope that the pilots are still alive," he said.

SERAP wants CBN to expose Boko Haram sponsors Wale Elegbede he Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has invoked a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, demanding that he urgently provides information about the persons involved in alleged money laundering through the bank to fund the activities of the Boko Haram, which have contributed to the unlawful killing of innocent Nigerians and destruction of property. In the request dated 15 September 2014 and signed by SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said, “Given the involvement of the CBN in this matter and the fact that you are the governor of the bank, we believe that you will be able to

use your position and leadership to provide appropriate records and information on what exactly happened.” The organisation also asked Mr Emefiele to provide “within 14 days of the receipt or publication of this letter, information on the exact nature and duration of any such transactions,” threatening all appropriate legal actions under the FOI Act to compel the apex bank to comply with its request. A Perth-based international adviser to Nigeria, Dr. Stephen Davis, who for four months was involved in negotiations on behalf of the Federal Government with commanders of Boko Haram for the release of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the sect last April, had named a former top official of the Central Bank of Nigeria among those that have provided funds and other logistics to Boko Haram.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Oil contract: Isoko group gives FG 21-day ultimatum A

group, the Indigenous Landlords Association based in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State has given the Federal Government a 21day ultimatum to redress what they termed “Illegal award of oil surveillance contract/oil mining (OML 30),” in the area. The group in a petition sent to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, alleged that without due consultation with their traditional institutions, chiefs, youths and opinion leaders in Isoko Kingdom, the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company

(NPDC), Shoreline National Resources Limited and Heritage Oil, unilaterally awarded oil mining lease surveillance contract to several contractors, whom they said “don’t care about the plight of the people”. In the petition, copies of which were sent to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani AlisonMadueke, the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and other stakeholders, the group said more than one year after award of this contract, there is no iota of evidence on ground to show that the contractors are working in the entire Isoko land.

The group stated that it has “resolved from now onward, that there shall be no peace until this ugly injustice is addressed”, and has therefore given a 21day ultimatum, starting from September 1, 2014 till September 22, 2014, within which the companies involved should address the anomaly, failing which all oil wells connected to OML 30 in Isoko Land will cease to flow. According to the group: “What we have noticed is that the Isoko Local Vigilante Group led by Hon. Victor Egbo, who is the state coordinator, are the ones securing the oil pipeline, as

well as gathering intelligence, while those who got the pipeline surveillance contracts are just taking the money without doing anything.” The group also alleged that in spite of this, they have not received any commendation or recommendation for employment from these contractors, a situation that is in total disregard of the Nigeria Local Content Act, 2011. While noting, that “no reasonable man in this 21st century will permit such injustice”, the group further said that in order to address the inherent injustice, the Isoko Development Union (IDU),

the apex decision making body in Isoko Land, led by its president, Major Gen. Paul Ofuoma Omu, (rtd), scheduled a meeting between the Isoko people, Shoreline Natural Resources (ltd), the NPDC and Heritage Oil for March 5, 2014. According to them, though due notice of the meeting was given, none of the representatives of the companies showed up at the meeting. As a result of this, they said, another stakeholders’ meeting was slated for April 29, 2014 at the Isoko South Local Government Area Secretariat. At the meeting, the

group said, Omu made known the collective resolve of the Isoko people that the oil surveillance contract should be reawarded to accommodate the interest of the entire Isoko people. The OML 30 (Oil Mining Lease) covers the largest upstream asset in Sub-Sahara Africa. The block is the second largest as well as the third largest on-shore Block with a lease covering 109 square kilometres. Currently the block has eight producing fields of 395, 000 bpd, with an existing 850 bpd of pipeline segment to Forcados Export terminal.

APC leaders meet Atiku, Bindow over Adamawa election Johnchuks Onuanyim ABUJA

o ensure victory at the Tnorship Adamawa State goverelection coming

L-R: Chief Missioner, Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT) worldwide, Sheikh Abdullahi Akinbode; lecturer, Lagos State University, Dr. Lateef Adetona; Deputy Chief Missioner, Alhaji Abdul Azees Maruf and Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, during the 15th annual women’s week, at NASFAT International Prayer Centre, Mowe, Ogun State…at the weekend.

CODER calls for rejection of INEC’s new polling units Wale Elegbede continue to Ationsrisetempers over the distribuof the additional

polling units by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) has urged Nigerians to reject the additional 30,000 units proposed by the commission, saying that the distribution is an abuse of privilege by INEC. In a statement released yesterday by its convener, Ayo Opadokun, the group said it was not surprised at the shape of events because it believed that the commission’s chairman,

Professor Attahiru Jega, had always been a part of the corrupt system “Out of 30,000 additional polling units, the entire South has 8,000 while the North has more than 21,000. This is an abuse of the privilege that Jega has and it is a total perforation of any myth about him as a political science teacher .I am calling on our people to stop grumbling silently. They should march themselves to reject Jega’s wicked proposition. He is worse than an ethnic jingoist. “On behalf of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), we made this clarion call to the Nige-

rian people to check the dubious agenda of Jega’s electoral management body for another dubious manipulative addition of polling units nationally. When some analysts did a comprehensive analysis of why the additional polling units is unacceptable, Jega made some funny, incredulous and infantile attack, calling them mischief makers.” Opadokun noted further that: “ For me, I am not surprised at all at the turn of events because from day one, when virtually everybody was falling over themselves, saying Jega’s appointment was the most important thing that the Federal

Government had done, when all former Heads of State said he was the best for the job, I was a lone ranger. I reminded Nigerians that when Jega was the president of ASUU, Maurice Iwu was his deputy. When Iwu became INEC chairman, Jega was not only his resource person, he was a consultant to him." Speaking further, Opadokun said Jega, as a member of the Uwais electoral panel that recommended that the president should not be allowed to appoint the INEC Chairman , ought to have rejected his appointment if he has any iota of integrity in him.

he departure of the reTformer nowned Historian and Vice Chancellor

of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Jacob Festus Ade-Ajayi, did not just pass on as an ordinary event in the academia. Vice Chancellors of various Nigerian universities gathered to pay

tribute to him yesterday, describing the don as an icon, intellectual colossus, a change agent and a leader worthy of emulation. The event, which was held at the Senate Chambers, UNILAG, wore a sombre look as colleagues, associates, friends and well-wishers joined the family to mourn the deceased. The Vice Chancellor,

UNILAG, Prof. Rahamon Bello, in his tribute, described him as a transformational leader; an architect of modern UNILAG. He said: "That he loved the University of Lagos was not in doubt. In the area of physical development, he certainly left his mark. Of course, his demise has robbed the intellectual community of one of its most effusive

PDP vows to resist removal of posters in Rivers Emmanuel Masha

UNILAG stands still for late Ade-Ajayi Shadrack Yusuf

up on October 11, the national leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday met with the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the candidate of the party, Senator Jibirila Bindow. The meeting, which lasted barely an hour at the national secretariat of the party, was held in the national chairman’s office. The party has embarked on fence-mending drive in its bid to galvanize more efforts towards a successful outing at the October 11 governorship election in Adamawa State. According to a source at the national secretariat of the party, the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun had called the stakeholders to explore how to forge a united front among other stakeholders of the party in the state. He said, "The meeting was at the instance of Chief Oyegun and it is all about the unity of the party as it gets set to take on the Peoples Democratic

PORT HARCOURT

voices especially in the field of African History. He would be missed for his uncharacteristic humility, his profound commitment to intellectual debate and dedication to the African continent, not only as a place filled with raw data, but also as a space from which we can begin to theorize on the world politics and human affairs."

Party (PDP) for October 11 gubernatorial contest. It is also about how to get every important stakeholder of the party in the state to agree to work as one to ensure victory for the party”. The governorship candidate was the first to arrive the secretariat for the meeting, shortly before Atiku drove in with a few of his personal aides. After the closed-door meeting, Atiku left and the party’s candidate held a brief meeting with other party officials. None of them spoke to the press. Adamawa State was in the hands of the APC, following the defection of the Governor, Murtala Nyako from PDP, until the impeachment saga which swept him out of office, thereby setting the stage for a bye-election. PDP and APC are presently the leading political parties in the governorship bye-election. Whereas the Acting Governor, Umar Fintiri has secured the PDP ticket, Senator Bindow defeated six other aspirants on the party's platform to clinch the ticket. However, Atiku, who hails from the state, is seen as the arrow-head in the opposition party's ambitious drive to retake Adamawa.

he Peoples Democratic Tchapter Party (PDP), Rivers State has vowed to resist the removal of its posters, flags, billboards and pinups in Port Harcourt by the state government. The party, through its state chairman, Felix Obuah, said that the alleged move was needless, "undemocratic, despotic and an invitation to anarchy." He also said the government had no reason for its

action, and as such, it will not allow it to continue. Obuah said that the action was aimed at hiding the PDP, and making it appear as if it is no longer in existence. "The PDP will ultimately resist, and can never be cowed by the anarchical tendencies of the Amaechi-led government in the state."Obuah added He appealed to wellmeaning individuals and corporate bodies to prevail on the governor to intervene in the matter.

news

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Ebola: Shitta-Bey raises funds Temitope Ogunbanke econd Republic member of the House of Representatives and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Chief Rasheed Adewale ShittaBey, has expressed commitment to tackle the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) scourge in the country. According to a statement made available to New Telegraph yesterday by Peretine Ikenebomeh, the media consultant to friends and associates of Shitta-Bey, the fund raising programme will hold in Lagos on Sunday, September 19. The programme, which is part of activi-

ties earmarked for his 80th birthday anniversary, will be chaired by the former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while President Goodluck Jonathan; former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari; former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, are guests of honour. The event is also expected to be attended by Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State as chief host and other state governors, leaders of Afenifere, traditional rulers, among others, as invited guests.

Court stops Kwara PDP factional leadership

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, addressing APC supporters and PDP decampees during a rally to receive defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party, in Igueben, Edo State…yesterday

Biodun Oyeleye

Kano disco sacks 400 workers

Ilorin

Ilorin High Court Athenyesterday restrained Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) in Kwara State from recognising the factional Chairman of the party in Ilorin West Local Government, Yusuf Amuda Olugbon, and his team as executive members of the party in the council. Ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by another factional Chairman, Alhaji Toyin Olosasa, and two others, against the PDP and 40 others, the court also re-

strained Alhaji Yusuf Amuda Olugbon and his factional executive from parading themselves as executive committee members of the PDP in the council. Justice I. A. Yusuf also directed the state executive to “collect any official monuments, cars, money or benefits given to the 35th and 38th defendants (Olugbon and three others) as a result of their swearing in as the Ilorin West Local Government executive committee of the PDP pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice.”

ACF rejects new polling booths ...says it's in favour of the south Walter Uba

Kaduna

he Arewa Consultative Trejected Forum (ACF) yesterday the new polling

booths created by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The body which argued that the new booths were in favour of the southern part of Nigeria, also said that it has resolved to engage all religious and ethnic groups in its activities to improve the unity of the north. In a communiqué signed by the Secretary General, ACF, Col. JIP Ubah (rtd), after a meeting attended by 11 northern organizations, groups and associations, the ACF said that it agreed to establish joint committees on strategy and coordination, political matters and security for mobilization the people against the alarming rate of insecurity in the North. The communiqué said that “ The Groups rejected the additional polling booths by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it is advantageous to states in the south, while also rejecting extension of tenure for the President under the guise of security, expecting a secure and safe

environment for the 2815 elections without jeopardizing our democratic process.” The groups also resolved to improve awareness of the people of the north on emasculation of the north, deprivation of their rights to live in peace as well as tell former Heads of state and presidents that they are “severely under-utilized assets who are expected to improve their inputs in influencing events around their security and economic wellbeing.” Consequently, the North under the aegis of the Arewa Consultative Forum said it had resolved to summon its past leaders like former Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon; a former President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; and former Heads of State -Maj Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), Gen Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalam Abubakar. The groups called on the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives’ as well as legislators from the north to exercise more commitments to make President Goodluck Jonathan accountable to the north and Nigerians on security and management of resources.

RETIREMENT Former PHCN staff are finally shown the way out in Kano, although they could return as consultants Muhammad Kabir

KANO

ano State Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has sacked 400 members of its staff even as the organisation also organised a ‘life after service training workshop’ for them. Those sacked were some of the workers inherited from the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

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Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Jamil Gwamna, told newsmen in Kano during the workshop that they decided to make their former workers strong and viable in approaching life after service, so that they will not be redundant. He said: “The disengagement of our staff is but with a human face, that is why when we are sending them packing, we decided to give them something that will make them useful in the future, and that is the essence of this workshop and training.” Gwamna said KEDCO is coming up with huge opportunities that will make them look for consultants to handle and part of the training on the sacked

The number of trans boundary basins in 2002 in the world. Source: Unesco.org

staff is consultancy and business, therefore it will be a great opportunity to bring them back as people that will take care of those opportunities. He similarly told the audience that after sacking 400 workers, the company has employed another set of workers to take their place. He added that before sacking the workers, they had been engaged for six months on contract basis even though the Federal Government had paid them their entitlements. The managing director said: “We have allowed these people we inherited from the former PHCN to work for six months on contract basis and we even added another two months, this is despite the fact that they have been

-5.99%

paid off, and today we are organising a two-day workshop for them to fully prepare them for the future. “Let me also tell you that the new staff we have employed will be on trial for eight months after which we will assess their performance and those we found worthy of remaining with us will be allowed to continue and ask those that are not up to the task to go home, because ours is a business environment.” Gwamna said most of the people sacked have a mindset that the power company was government owned and so can be treated anyhow; that was why customers and even the government suffered heavily in their hands, “but we cannot allow such attitude to continue.”

The growth rate of air travel passengers of The life expectancy at age 60 years (in years) of men in Czech Republic in 2010-2015. Sokoto airport (2012-2013) Source: Un.org Source: National Bureau of Statistics

Akanbi warns FG of war as Boko Haram attacks escalate Foluso Ogunmodede lder statesman and pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, yesterday warned the Federal Government that the country was heading for war unless certain decisive actions are taken against the deadly Boko Haram insurgents. Besides, he warned of dire consequences should the country treat with kid gloves the alleged revelations by an Australian negotiator, Rev. Steve Davis that some Nigerians were

behind Boko Haram’s activities in the country. Akanbi’s warning came even as he asked the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to probe the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the former Army Chief, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, who were fingered by Davis as sponsors of the deadly Boko Haram sect in the country. On this, Akanbi asked the government to deploy every arsenal within its constitutional powers to ensure that the American predictions on the nation’s corporate existence would not become a reality just as he blamed northern elders

for the unending activities of the sect, saying it was time they brainstormed on how to end insurgency in the region. “Boko Haram started through political associations, when politicians in that part of the country were using thugs to fight themselves to achieve their selfish political ends. Now it has gone out of hand's and it’s apparent that other foreign groups have joined them. “So, in my thinking, politicians, especially from that part of the country, will have to brace up for a solution to the problem,” Akanbi said. Worried by the spate of attacks in the North-East,

Akanbi in an exclusive interview with the New Telegraph said it was imperative to properly investigate those fingered by Davis as sponsors of the Boko Haram sect rather than making politics out of the allegations. He urged the government to guide against whatever may constitute a threat to the nation’s corporate existence as being touted by the insurgents. Davis, who was employed by the Federal Government on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, had accused Sheriff and Ihejirika of being among the sponsors of the Boko Haram sect.

NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/metro

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

tueSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

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

0802 393 8212

Umar Manko, CP Lagos.

Rescue Operation at the collapsed Synagogue’s Hostel, Lagos…yesterday

Synagogue: Death toll rises to 49 Juliana Francis and Muritala Ayinla

ire yesterday broke out from the rubbles of the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ collapsed Guest House. This was even as the death toll in the incident is now 49 while the survivors’ figure still stands at 130. The state Police Commis-

lFire erupts from collapsed building sioner, Mr Kayode Aderanti, has ordered the release of five dogs to facilitate recovery of bodies still buried under the rubbles. Speaking with our correspondent, the Director of Lagos Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, said the fire emanated from items under the rubbles. Fadipe said the items might

Ijaw Youths shut Chevron oil facility Chris Ejim Yenagoa

ouths of Koluama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have shut down the Chevron oil platform over the company’s refusal to pay adequate compensation for January 2012 KS Endeavour rig fire disaster. It was gathered that armed soldiers guarding Chevron’s North Apoi platform were taken by surprise by the irate youth. It was also learnt that the youth from the 13 host communities stormed the offshore facility about 11am on Sunday. The elders and chiefs from Chevron host communities had in a meeting held late last month warned that failure by the company to pay compensation and carry out mitigation measure to restore the devastated environment would lead to the shut-

down of the entire Funiwa oil field. The host communities, comprising Koluama I and II, Sangana, Fishtown, Ezetu I and II, Forupa, Ekeni, Bilabiri, Amatu, Bisangbene and old Ekeni, are protesting, among others, the alleged refusal of Chevron to pay compensation for the January fire outbreak at the offshore rig which lasted about 46 days with its attendant environmental, health and economic damage. The youth noted with regret the company’s refusal to pay adequate compensation for the alleged colossal environmental devastation which had brought pains, sicknesses, poverty, hunger and death to the people. “The deliberate refusal of Chevron and relevant authorities to carry out environmental impact assessment and mitigation has brought misery to our people.”

have generated too much heat before the fire broke out. He said: “During the course of search and rescue operation at the scene of the collapsed building items under the rubbles generated excessive heat and resulted into fire outbreak. Our standby officials at the site were able to contain it.”

The spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said the police sniffer dogs would assist in the search and rescue effort. He said: “The commissioner of police has ordered the release of five dogs after a collective decision to use the dogs by responding agencies. NEMA asked the Police Disaster Management unit to manage the dogs.” However, a video footage released by the church showing aircraft hovering over the church building before it collapsed, has generated a serious debate in the state. While the state government and NEMA had earlier disagreed with the church over the video, the residents are also divided. Some people doubted the authenticity of the video, claiming that it was not possible for individuals to launch ‘the attack’ on the church. They said it must have been manipulated and stage-managed to deceive the public. The people described the video as a ploy to divert public and government attention from illegality said to be rampart in the construction of buildings on the church premises. A resident, Jacobs Onafunwa, said the video clip watched by many residents on Youtube, was real and urged the Federal Government to look into the allegation. He said: “The situation in the country has called for caution. Many things we thought were never possible before are now happening. Nobody ever thought we could have suicide

bombers in the country but we now have.” But for Mr Segun Fijabi, an engineer, government must also commence immediate investigation into the history of the collapsed building with a view to finding out if the due process was followed in its construction. He said: “We like deceiving ourselves in this country. Why should we believe such claims? We should first ask why and how the building was erected in the first place. Was the building approved? Was it built to specifications? How come the additional floors were added to the existing building without adjustments as report in the media?” Meanwhile, the state government said it was yet to get evidence of building approval for the collapsed guest house and other structures added to the existing building on the church premises. Also, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) yesterday urged the Federal and Lagos State Governments to investigate and account for the identities of the helicopter and strange plane which flew low over the collapsed building four times within 24 minutes. In a statement issued its National President and National Treasurer, Comrade Sunny Enenuvwedia and Deji Adebowale, CDHR asked the government to also find out the mission and those responsible for the helicopter and plane. The committee said if this was not done, it would call on the African Union and the United Nations to compel the Federal Government to do so.

Transformer vandal electrocuted Taiwo Jimoh he residents of Church TGovernment Street in Ifako Ijaiye Local Area of Lagos

State woke up yesterday to discover the body of a middle age man who was electrocuted and glued to the community transformer. It was gathered that the body of the man, who was kneeling down and facing the transformer, was spotted by a boy sent on an errand. It was also learnt that the boy, who was identified simply as Kunle, was going to a neighbour’s house to fetch water when he stumbled on the body. A resident, Michael Atanda, said Kunle thought the yet-tobe-identified man was an official of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) working on the transformer. He said: “The boy greeted the man, but he did not reply. What baffled the boy was the smoke coming out of the man’s

The vandal

body. Immediately he saw it, he ran back home to inform his parents, who in turn alerted the whole community.” Mr Joshua Babalola, whose shop is close to the scene of the incident, said that what happened was not a new thing in the community.

He said: “The IKEDC management needs to work with the community to prevent vandals who are destroying government properties.” When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident, the body of the man was still glued to the transformer.

METRO

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

BRT: Tribunal Tricycle operators protest latest restriction begins sitting Sobowale Temitope and John Edu

Muritala Ayinla of Inquiry looking into TinghetheofTribunal accident, vandalism and burnBus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses

yesterday called on the residents of Lagos to volunteer useful information. The three-man tribunal set up by Governor Babatunde Fashola, which held its inaugural sitting, also vowed to investigate the cause of the accident which made soldiers to set ablaze public transport buses, saying the era of crimes committed by unknown soldiers had gone in the country. But speaking at the sitting held at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (rtd), promised to give all parties involved fair hearing. He urged the people to volunteer useful information, adding that everything would be done to protect them from harassment. Also speaking, a member of the tribunal, Mr Jude Igbanoi, said that the panel would also welcome anonymous witnesses. He added that every measure would be explored to ensure that the tribunal had a comprehensive report. The tribunal Secretary, Ms Oludamola Kesington, commented on the term of reference, promising that everybody involved would be carried along. The representatives of the Army and the stakeholders in the transportation sector also attended the inaugural meeting. On July 4, angry soldiers set ablaze BRT buses after one of them was killed while riding motorcycle on the prohibited BRT lane.

Gang members beat man to death Juliana Francis

ampaging gang members have bludgeoned a yet-to-be-identified man to death at Ajegunle area of Lagos State. The gang members, numbering about 40, were said to have dispossessed people of cash, mobile phones and other valuables at different streets. On Sunday night, the deceased was said to have bumped into the gang members who beat him to death. Gang members in that axis usually move with cutlasses, iron rods, axes and other dangerous weapons. “It has become a weekly affair as these gang members usually terrorise innocent people every Sunday night. A week ago, a similar incident occurred. The police arrested three suspected members of the gang that week,” a resident said. It was gathered that immediately the gang began the atrocious act, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) attached to Ajegunle Police Station, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mr Abayomi Agbana, led a team of policemen to the scene. A police source said that on sighting police patrol vehicle, the hoodlums escaped through different directions. Policemen also removed the body of the victim.

ricycle riders plying ACME, Ikeja routes, yesterday accused the Lagos State Government of taking away their only source of income. The riders said the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Kayode Opeifa, had issued a directive banning their operations on the routes. The operators, whose park is at Agege area of the metropolis, yesterday embarked on a peaceful protest to the state Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on ACME. They all refused to work because they might be arrested by officials of the Lagos State Transport Management (LASTMA). The riders’ refusal to work forced many commuters, who ordinarily would have boarded tricycles at Agege/ Total, to trek to Agege-Pen Cinema to board commercial buses heading to Alausa Secretariat. With that, many commuters who alighted at First Gate Bus Stop, trekked to their various offices on ACME Road. The Chairman of the tricycle operators at Agege ACME Park, Mr Ademola Omolewu, said they were all shocked on Friday afternoon to see Opeifa.

Protesting okada riders

He said: “The commissioner came to meet us himself. He warned those of us plying ACME route to stop immediately. He said that anyone who flouted his order would be arrested. He also warned that the person’s tricycle would be impounded for six months, including a fine of N100,000.” Omolewu said that members of the association had tried to find out the reason behind the sudden order, but Opeifa refused to explain. He said: “However, we have learnt that Boulos

Enterprise wrote a petition against us, that we were disturbing movement in front of the company’s gate. Boulos said some tricycle operators used to park in front of the gate. We also learnt that the petition was written four months ago.” Omolewu said that things had not been easy for the tricycle operators since Friday that the order was issued. He said: “We have families and we can’t feed them. The worse hit among us are those who deliver to the owners of

the tricycles. The association has already written a letter to the government, asking reasons why Opeifa stopped us from plying the route, which is our only route.” The state Vice-Chairman of APC, Mr Funsho Ologunde, who addressed the protesters, said he just learnt of the restriction order. He said: “Today, some of my staff trekked to office. I will look into the matter and get back to you.” A commuter, who joined in the protest, identified himself as Mr Bode Williams. He said: “The government should try to reconsider this latest decision because it has not been easy coming to work without a tricycle.” A physically-challenged tricycle operator, Mr Moses Adeleke, said he lost one leg to accident. He said: “I started riding tricycle about three years ago. Tricycle riding as a source of livelihood which helps me to forget that I am a physically-challenged person. I have been managing with it, until this latest government’s decision. Right now, things appear to be falling apart for me.” The father of three said his daily income was what he and his family depended on. “Right now, I just don’t know what to do next. I just want government to think twice and assist us,” he added.

Lagos deputy gov’s ‘classmates’ protest maladministration Muritala Ayinla tudents of the Lagos State University External System S(LASUES) yesterday invaded

the office of Governor Babatunde Fashola over alleged fraudulent practices by the institution’s management. The protesters nearly paralysed activities at the Government House as they barricaded the entrance which forced many vehicles to turn back. The students, who claimed to be classmates of the Deputy Governor, Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, said that Fashola must resolve their demands before they would vacate the entrance. They said that since 2012, LASUES had only conducted three examinations. This, the angry students said, was not in accordance with global practices in education. “The students, who gained admission in 2008/2009, are Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

our persons were feared FEmuoha dead in Ibaa community in Local Government Area of Rivers State. Sources said that rival cult groups clashed after one of them raided a hotel in the area following a report that members of the other group

still in first semester of 500 level when their five-year academic studies ought to have been concluded in 2012. “Also, thousands of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 set do not have admission letter but they pay their tuition yearly. “Thousands of LASUES students pay for their identity cards yearly but they are not given any. We have written several letters to the ViceChancellor, Professor John Obafunwa and the Director of LASUES, Professor Abanikanda, but they have turned deaf ear to our complaints,” one of them said. In addition to slow academic programme, the protesters also demanded reduction in tuition fee from N68,700 to N38,700 for 500 level, and N75,700 to N45,700 for students in 400 level and N95,700 to N65,700 for those in 300 level. According to them, less than five per cent of the cumulative 40,000 student popu-

Protesting students

lation record passes each time they sit for examinations. They alleged that the deputy governor promised that if the students vote for the ruling party during the 2011 general elections, issues bedevilling the system would be addressed swiftly. The students, however, al-

leged that Orelope, who they gave her matric number, dumped them after voting for the party. They also complained of lack of proper academic calendar, missing scripts and delay of results, increase in tuition fees and poor management.

Four die in Rivers cult clash were lodged there. At least two persons were killed in the hotel during the clash, where guns and machetes were freely used, while others were killed outside the hotel premises. Most of the villages in Ibaa were said to have been

deserted as members of a vigilance group in the community struggled to maintain law and order after the clash. A source said that trouble had been brewing in the community over the battle for the control of the area by some politicians.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmed Mohammed, who confirmed the clash, did not disclose the number of people that were killed. He only said that the matter was being investigated.

12 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Eyakenyi: Concession of Festac Phase Two'll yield N25.8bn EARNINGS Housing minister sees more cash from development of 1,126 hectares of land Dayo Ayeyemi he Federal Government is estimated to make N25.765bn as premium from the concession of the reclamation and infrastructural development of FESTAC Phase II, the Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, has said.

Besides, the minister also disclosed that the government will make an addition of over N150m ground rent annually, with three years moratorium from the deal. In a document made available to New Telegraph at the weekend revealing the 30-year Concession Agreement Signing between the Federal Government and Messrs New Festac Property Development Company Limited for the development of FESTAC Phase II Estate, the minister hinted that the earnings from the premium and rent were subject to periodic reviews. She said: “The esti-

mated government earnings under the concession has been reviewed upwards and stands at about N25.765b, as premium for the 30 years of concession period and additional N150 million ground rent annually, with three years moratorium period. “The parties have agreed to a review clause of the earnings to reflect market situation with likely higher earnings anticipated at the end of the day.” Part of these earnings, Eyakenyi said would be ploughed back to rehabilitate FESTAC Phase I. The scope of the concession includes recla-

mation of 1,126 hectares land, sand filling, infrastructural development, marketing/sale of the over 7,000 plots of land to be created from the reclaimed land, and facility management for the 30 years. Messrs New Festac Property Development Company Limited is expected to fully fund the implementation of the project and recoup its funds mainly through the sale and management of plots of the land over the concession period. The Federal Government had acquired 2,024 hectares of land in Lagos for housing development in preparation for the

hosting of FESTAC ’77 in which phase one of the project, known as FESTAC Town was developed, leaving a balance of 1,126 hectares of swampy land as phase II of the project. Speaking, the Managing Director of New Festac Property Development Company Limited (NFPDCL), Mr. Gaddy Gbuji, an engineer, assured that his company is fully committed to the noble objectives of the concession in the imple-

Kwankwaso takes presidential campaign to Kogi Emmanuel Masha

Port Harcourt

head of the 2015 presiAegation dential election, delof Kano State

L-R: Senator representing Lagos West, Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon; Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, LTV chapel, Jibola Ojesola and chapel Chairman, Samuel Dada, during the presentation of an 18-passenger bus to the chapel’s union by Senator Solomon in Lagos …yesterday

mentation of the project. He revealed that Messrs New Festac Property Development Company Limited (NFPDCL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) made of four companies namely: Fung Tai Engineering Company Limited (FTECL), SCC (Nigeria) Limited, and Energo (Nigeria) Limited with track record and diverse experience in construction and infrastructural development.

Governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso under aegis of "Nigeria Project 2015 campaign organization", over the weekend stormed Kogi State, to canvas for the election of the governor. The delegation which held closed door meeting with stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in Lokoja arrived with assorted campaign posters carrying Kwankwaso's picture as President for 2015 general election. Leader of the delegation, Alhaji Habibu Sale Mohammed Mai-lemu told journalists shortly after the meeting that their mission in Kogi was to sensitize the people toward electing a credible

leader like Kwankwaso. Mai-lemu stressed that the good governance under Kwankwaso administration in Kano state will be replicated if the governor is elected as president. According to him, the ongoing rapid infratructure in Kano state within three years was unprecedented, "He has all it takes to preside over the administration of this country. He made a promise during his electioneering campaign that he will transform Kano to be like Dubai. Go to Kano today and see things yourself." Mai-lemu who is also the chairman Fagge Local Government Area, Kano stressed that Kwankwaso has the antidote to the high level of corruption, which has become a dangerous worm eating deep into the fabric of the nation's system.

Lagos NURTW embraces FG to develop policy on foreign aid S-VID insurance scheme Biodun Oyeleye questions from newsmen back President Goodluck the system and come up at an interactive session Jonathan in 2015. with a transparent temhairman of the Lagos perceptions that people held on Sunday night at According him, expe- plate for all stakeholders. Cal Chapter of the Nation- have about commercial inister of National the NUJ Press Centre in rience since he assumed While raising many Union of Road Trans- drivers,” he said. M Planning, Dr. Sulei- Ilorin, the Kwara state office had shown that no posers over the activiport Workers (NURTW), He expressed happi- man Abubakar has said capital. state can expect to get ties of the incumbent Ilorin

Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede has said that the Security Verified Identity (S-VID) Insurance scheme will benefit is members across the state. Agbede made the statement during the registration of Lagos council members at the union Secretariat, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos. He said the S-ViD was in the best interest of members of the union, as it will assist law enforcement agencies in identifying authentic members and staff as well as solve the problem of wrong identifications which had beleaguered the Union for years. “The insurance scheme is a comprehensive welfare package for commercial drivers across the nation. The exercise will also assist law enforcement agencies in order to make surveillance and identification of criminals easier in order to change the wrong

ness about the insurance scheme attached to the ID Card which he said would assist members and staff of the Union in case of accidents, adding that the inclusion of members’ National Identity Numbers in their registration forms will enable Banks issuing the cards include vital details. He gave kudos to Globacom for the Discount Plus introduced on the card which also provides extra Glo airtime for every top-up made on the ID card. The S-ViD cards were launched by Globacom in collaboration with Capital 3 Limited, some banks and insurance firms. With the S-ViD, N1m will be given to the beneficiary’s next of kin in case of accidental death, while N850,000 would be given to members who suffer permanent disability in an accident.

his ministry is planning a nation-wide evaluation of federal government projects and would soon come up with a policy on the use of foreign aids by state governments across the country. Abubakar made this known while fielding

The minister also warned that any state not under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be ‘vulnerable to suffering’ as he announced that his home state of Kwara has contributed about 120,000 signatories to the campaign to bring

much from the federal government while such state is ‘fighting’ the federal government. He claimed that there is much duplication in the way and manner aid agencies implement their programmes in the country, hence the need to review

administration in Kwara state, Abubakar said he is desirous about bringing the state back on track to mainstream politics as he claimed that major investment opportunities have been eluding the state of recent because of its political status.

New Kwara CP warns politicians Biodun Oyeleye

Ilorin

he new commissioner Tstate, of police for Kwara Salihu Garba yes-

terday assumed office with a warning to politicians against tearing of posters and billboards erected by their opponents. Garba, during his maiden meeting with newsmen said the command would not tolerate acts that could threaten

the peace of the state, especially acts of political thuggery which he described terrorism. The new police boss while noting that Kwara is a familiar terrain for him having spent about eight years in the state earlier as a junior officer, warned against defacing or outright destruction of political bill boards, saying that the command has zero tolerance for thuggery in whatever guise.

His words: "Destroying bill boards will not stop the person who will win the election from winning, but that act constitutes a breach of public peace. "Those that erected the bill boards and posters might have spent some money in doing that, so if anyone destroys them, that may lead to chaos," he stated. On the security situation of the country, Garba advised Kwarans to be

very vigilant and provide the police with necessary information at all times. He pledged to do all within his power to ensure that the state remains peaceful. He also applauded journalists for their support and cooperation with the Command and enjoined them to keep the Police abreast of information needed to ensure security of lives and property in the state.

Imo: The return of Ohakim / PAGE 14 | Kwara women launch “1 for More” / PAGE 20

POLITICS

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/politics

ayodele Ojo

Deputy Editor, politics ayodeleojo@yahoo.com

PDP paves way for Wike

p-17

TUESday, September 16, 2014

The race for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State appears to be a battle between the Minister of Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Jimi Agbaje. WALE ELEGBEDE reports

Obanikoro, Agbaje battle for Lagos PDP ticket

ith less than five months to the governorship election in Lagos State, the political ambiance in the state is already charged. The two major parties in the state, namely, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party (PDP), are already squaring up, sensitizing the public through posters, tours and town hall meetings. For the APC, the mandate is clear; to consolidate on its record at the 2011 election where it enjoyed a winner-takes-all status at the expense of its familiar foe, the PDP. Though the party’s choice on who will succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola is still cloudy, analysts believe that the party’s native process of selecting its flag bearer would still play out under the watch of its national leader in the state. On part of the PDP, which got badly crushed at the last general election, there are signs that the party is resurrecting itself, and this is evident through series of political strings aimed at galvanizing support and sympathy for the party, which may warm the party into the heart of Lagos residents. At a point, the party threw its doors open by embarking on an aggressive membership drive at the ward and local government levels using this means to re-market itself at the grassroots level. To exhibit its commitment at wrestling power from the APC, the party stepped up its reconciliation moves and also opened its doors to aggrieved members who left its fold before, during and after the 2011 election, to return to the party. Notable among the gains of ceasefire achieved by the party was the agelong rift between its former deputy national chairman, Chief Olabode George, and a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe. Though the PDP cannot be said to have one voice over who will emerge as its governorship candidate, however, the plethora of groups, caucuses and blocs that characterised and became the bane of division within the party in the 2011 election, seems to have trimmed down. For instance, the Ogunlewe’s Union group has been fused into George’s Establishment group; Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, a former deputy governor in the state who once led in the party, has also jumped ship to the opposition APC. Dr. Yomi Finnih’s group seems to have put its active days behind it, among others. In the run-up to the 2011 election, most of the aspirants rode on the back of groups and caucuses, hence, when Dr. Ade Dosunmu from George’s Establishment group eventual emerged as the party’s flag bearer, it wasn’t difficult for other aspirants and the groups they represent to put down their political tools

Obanikoro

Agbaje

and distance themselves from the party, consequently, PDP was soundly dusted by the APC in the race for every elective office at the last poll. As at the last count, no fewer than 11 aspirants have expressed interest in the PDP governorship ticket. While the aspiration of some aspirants is only limited to erection of banners, pasting of posters and getting a mention in the media, others are looking for ways to enhance their political status within the party through federal appointments, leaving just a handful among the lot whose ambition to become the party’s flag bearer is unadulterated. Adedeji Doherty: Serial governorship

aspirant No doubt, Doherty, a highly urbane and cerebral Lagos boy could easily pass for the governor on first sight with his carriage and ambiance. He is a household name in Lagos and South-West PDP. He seems to appeal more to the elite and middle class in the party but occasionally gives flashes of his connection to the grassroots especially during festive periods by doling out gifts to members of the party. In 2003 and 2007, he contested the party primaries but lost. He once said during an interview that: “I didn’t run for governorship in 2011 because most of the agenda of Fashola were just similar to mine. Fashola is a very good man in a wrong party.” He once served as the acting National

CROSSFIRE I think what the youth should do now is to come together, and I will support you, and take a bill to the National Assembly to amend some discriminatory provisions of the constitution in terms of age -Goodluck Jonathan

I don’t agree with President Jonathan that there should be no age limit for presidential aspirants. He is saying that an 18-year old undergraduate should be allowed to contest the election? -Chris Ngige

Vice-Chairman, PDP, South West and is presently the zonal organizing secretary of the party. He became an ally of Buruji Kashamu after series of brushes with Bode George. Among the aspirants, he appears to be the most prepared and vocal, but many of the party members still have a sense of disconnection with him. His relationship with party leaders outside the state is more cordial than those he intends to govern in Lagos. Already, his banners and posters are in strategic places in Lagos after he unveiled a 10-point agenda for his mandate. Doherty has a remote chance of picking the ticket. Jimi Agbaje: Itching to prove a point It will suffice to say that the movement of Agbaje into the PDP is one of the longest anticipated defections in the history of the party in the state. For nearly three years, political pundits were kept on the edge waiting for when he would eventually say ‘I DO’. He eventually joined the umbrella party in August with his supporters. Jay-Kay, as he is popularly called, became a household name in 2007 when he attempted to govern the Centre of Excellence but lost out in the race. He contested on the platform of the the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) alongside Musiliu Obanikoro of PDP, Femi Pedro of Labour Party (LP), and Babatunde Fashola of the now defunct Action Congress (AC). His entrance into the governorship race in the PDP has altered the equation both within his party and the opposition owing to the admiration that has CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

14 POLITICS Former governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, is attempting to return to office four years after he lost his re-election bid, writes STEVE UZOECHI

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Imo: The return of Ohakim

n 2011, when Chief Ikedi Ohakim was sacked from the Imo State Government House, many perceived his exit as a terminal end to his political career, owing to the circumstances that built up to his election defeat. At the time, swirling negative sentiments, fanciful tales and exaggerated narratives plunged the once towering political stature of Ohakim to the dust. Even after he lost the coveted seat, he was still viewed by many as everything a politician should not be. He was on the wrong side of a massive conspiracy that reduced him to a spectacle of ridicule and disdain. Ohakim, a high equity brand was thoroughly debranded by a cross section of elites in the Imo political class. It has however been said that, “Ohakim did not lose the election, but the calculation.” Either way, he took quite a bashing. And of course, the conspirators knew their job. Events of the recent past however suggest that the effect of the 2011 plot against Ohakim has speedily worn thin. With an iron will and defiant resilience, he refused to stay down. The immediate natural inclination of one who has taken a political bashing is often to isolate himself and brood over his losses while time elapses. But not Ohakim; he has appeared at fora where he was least expected to show up. He has addressed head-on, all the issues and mendacity that had turned the people against him. He had diligently pulled down all the beastly images of himself and his administration which supposedly were cast in iron. Ohakim has walked the streets of Owerri, attending functions, meeting people and most importantly telling his tale himself; that he is not the monster he was labelled as. Meticulously picking up the pieces of the 2011 experience, Ohakim is relentlessly rebuilding bridges that were burnt and enhancing his acceptability both at the state and national levels. And he has done a good job of it. Like or hate him, the former governor has a disarming charisma to his advantage and wields enormous social capital, vital in politics. Today, the appearance of Ohakim on the streets of Owerri elicits frenzied cheers; the misconceptions against him are gradually paling into nothingness in the light of the staggered strides of his successor, Chief Rochas Okorocha. In spite of the fact that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a crowd of aspirants under its platform, the emergence of Ohakim has continued to rankle a number of persons and interest groups. Months ago, when he announced that he was addressing Imo people on his political aspiration, an unfortunate incident aborted that resolve as his Owerri resident was razed to the ground by some nocturnal assailants, only days to the event. He however made good his resolve on August 28 when he visited the Imo State headquarters of the PDP. Owerri was literally shut down as the political grandeur of the former governor threw supposed contenders into a confused whirl. Speaking at the PDP state secretariat where he formally declared his interest to contest for the governorship position in the state, the ex-governor noted that he was yet too young to retire from the political terrain and in clear terms appealed to the leadership of the party to allow him complete his second term in 2015. He however expressed fears that if the PDP failed to win the governorship election in 2015, most of the current

Ohakim

political gladiators in the party may be forced into retirement. Ohakim described his ouster in 2011 as divine tragedy, stating that he had learnt his lessons from his past mistakes during his first stint as the governor, even as he promised to give the state better and qualitative governance if given the opportunity to complete his second term. While insisting that he did not lose the 2011 election, he told the party that he is the only aspirant that has well laid down political structure from the wards to the state level. The PDP, he added, would not find it difficult to win the 2015 election if he would be given the opportunity to return. The former governor lamented that less than three years after Owelle Rochas Okorocha succeeded him; Imo State had been turned upside down and ridiculously cluttered with what he referred to as, ‘China projects’. He assured that all the valuable projects he started would be completed if given another opportunity, lamenting that if he had been allowed to complete his tenure, about 400,000 Imo youths currently out of job, would have found solace and the economy would not have been stifled by the current stagnation and reverse cash-flow occasioned by a rudderless policy thrust on the welfare of the populace. He warned the PDP to be wary of those he described as ‘moneyticians’ who would not hesitate to destroy the party with their money in their bid to secure the party’s ticket, which he said should not go to the highest bidder. A number of issues stand in favour of Ohakim. Besides stating that, “the political accident that led to my ouster in 2011 has made me a better person and more importantly, a better leader,” Ohakim is clearly the only governorship aspirant in the PDP among the over 25 contenders, that is coming to the contest with the experience of a former governor.

In spite of the fact that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a crowd of aspirants under its platform, the emergence of Ohakim has continued to rankle a number of persons and interest groups Definitely, he is not coming to learn on the job. Considering the prevailing zoning controversy in the state and the argument of Imo North where Ohakim comes from that they are entitled to a full eight years in power like their counterpart in Imo West from where Chief Achike Udenwa served for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. Imo North through Ohakim had served for only four years (2007 – 2011) before Rochas Okorocha another Imo West son emerged, against the existing zoning arrangement. While many believe that Imo East has a full entitlement to the governorship seat this time having been outside power since 1999, many others are aggressively pushing that Imo North should complete their stay in the governorship seat to eight years before Imo East takes over power. While this argument may be tenable, there is always the fear that politicians never keep to their words. Okorocha, for instance, vowed to govern Imo for only four years; today he is eyeing the seat again, arguing that it was necessary to consolidate the gains of his administration. But the emergence of Ohakim solves the problem for the state and for his party because having served one term as governor, Ohakim is bound by law to stay in office for only one tenure of four years if he is elected a second time in 2015. Ohakim will be the safest bet for the

people of Imo East and a legal assurance that power will swing their way in the shortest possible time after four years. But with any other person in power, eight years would be the most realistic possibility. Arguing that he was better placed to beat Okorocha in 2015 as the governor would be pointing to some projects as his achievements while freshers would only be able to offer promises. This he said would give Okorocha an advantage over any fresher candidate. Speaking last Saturday during the launching of his book, ‘Legacies that Speak’, Ohakim said: “Let the debate begin, let truth be told, let’s discuss issues and governance. Nobody should attack Okorocha or anybody else on my behalf. Let issues, reason and common sense prevail.” The event was a massive spur for followers of Ohakim as it re-awakened the consciousness of Imo people to the great possibilities the return of Ohakim represented. Looking beyond where Imo presently is, the presentations painted a vivid picture of what could be under a futuristic leader committed to taking his people to a better future. Not always in the history of a people does a leader get an opportunity after his stint in power, to prove his points, disabuse minds and even to make amends. If the PDP governorship ticket for Imo State goes to Ohakim, the ex-governor would have had a historic opportunity to give life to his visions of a great Imo and for all times correct misconceptions about him, that may still linger. With the emergence of Ohakim, a lot of aspirants in the PDP are either casting pebbles at his aspiration or restructuring their campaign organisation for better impact. The truth remains, however, that no matter how loud his return is heralded, Ohakim would fight every inch of the way for the party’s governorship ticket and of course there are battleready warlords in the PDP. Though Ohakim brings some robust dynamism to politics, it is believed that with the scars of 2011 still very evident, he will this time, fight from the point of knowledge and indeed fight smarter.

POLITICS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

In spite of the zoning of Abia State governorship to Abia South by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the race is still less interesting with mere visit of aspirants to the party secretariat. IGBEAKU ORJI reports

Waiting game in Abia

ince the declaration by Governor Theodore Orji and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership in Abia State that the office of the governor in 2015 has been zoned to Abia South, Ngwa monarchs, professionals and organisations have besieged the seat of government, asking ‘who is the preferred candidate?’ It is on record, however, that all the delegations failed to extract a commitment as to who the preferred candidate will be beyond a superficial and generalized declaration as the governor firmly insisted he has not endorsed anyone. Analysts see that as strategic. It would be too early in the day to make such commitment, as the ‘anointing’ of any candidate will overheat the polity. The favoured candidate would be unveiled at a time when it would be too late to scuttle it. The atmosphere regarding who the next governor of Abia State will be is therefore still hazy and uncertain. And it will be hazardous to attempt a prediction because no such can be done with any degree of certainty. It is pertinent to observe that the zoning has either been roundly deprecated or out rightly disregarded by those who are not favoured by it. Aspirants from outside the zone are as unflinching as they have ever been. At the last count, eight aspirants have declared their interest for the governorship of Abia State in 2015. Two entrants, Dr. Okey Emuchay, former Nigerian Consular General to South Africa and Sir Marc Wabara, former Managing Director of Hallmark Bank, from the Ukwa axis of Abia South have recently joined the Abia governorship race thereby altering the hitherto all Ngwa scenario. With the exception of Uche Ogah from Isuikwuato council area, the rest are Ngwa born. Abia South, where the governorship slot is zoned, is made up of Aba North, Aba South, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and Ukwa West. Already, it is no longer news that Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Nkechi Nwaogu are in the race. Also in the race to the Abia State Government House come 2015 are the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Diamond Bank, Dr. Alex Otti; the Deputy General Manager of ASEPA, Aba zone, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, Friday Nwosu, Hon. Eric Acho Nwakanma and president, Masters Energy, Dr. Uche Ogah. They have all been to the PDP secretariat to make their intention known except Ikpeazu. Interestingly, all the aspirants jostling for the PDP ticket say they are still consulting. Full blown campaign is yet to commence since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to lift the ban on political campaign. But before the ban is lifted consultations and meetings will continue ahead of the primaries that will produce the flag bearer. There lies the veritable crucible that will separate the chaff from the wheat, the serious-minded and the pretenders. Waiting for endorsement Analysts contend that what the aspirants need is the kind of endorsement the incumbent governor got from his predecessor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, from endorsement to campaign and funding. Once that happens, the chicken will go home to roost. The governor’s

Wabara

endorsement is the one decisive factor in the build up to the 2015 election in Abia State. This could explain the low political activity at the moment among the aspirants. When the aspirants know the direction the pendulum will swing then those who want to remain loyal to the party and its leadership will queue behind the choice candidate. The atmosphere of uncertainty is palpable except for those who are ready to go against the tide. From all indications, it is obvious that the PDP will not reverse its decision on zoning. Such summersault will be self-defeating, said a stalwart of the party. So, anyone who is not from the South of Abia will be perceived as the enemy of the party and its leader. It is a well-known fact that political offices are not offered on a platter of gold. They are fought for. Those who are not serious in their campaign cannot be said to be serious in their commitment. And without the behind the scene consultations the rest will amount to building a castle in the air. From experience, there are politicians, who want to ride on the crest of sponsors and godfathers; they want everything done for them even to the minutest detail. They think that once they say they are the candidate of the governor they automatically sail through. It does not work that way. One must prove that he/she is capable, not a soporific weakling to be foisted on the people. Such can hardly extricate themselves from the suffocating noose of the benefactor. Those who belong to that school of thought should remember, for instance, that former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Abia State two times to campaign for Chief Onyema Ugochukwu to become Abia State Governor in 2007. This was in addition to other incentives not immediately known to the public, but the outcome is well known to all. So far, some of the aspirants are seen only on the pages of newspapers. It is obvious some of them do not have the wherewithal to prosecute a project of such magnitude. Their impact is not felt anywhere. Their defense is that INEC has not lifted the ban on campaign. They are so silent one wonders the agenda they are pursuing or how they intend to go about the project. It is possible, though, that they want to combine the consultation with the campaign. Enyinnaya Abaribe Abaribe has embarked on high level consultations across the nooks and crannies of the state. His consultations with stakeholders have taken him to all the three senatorial zones of the state and

Nwaogu

several local government areas. The former deputy governor is highly connected both in the presidency and to the national leadership of the PDP. Abaribe, a two-term senator, had contested the 2003 governorship on the platform of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) but lost to former Governor Kalu. Abaribe is popular and has large followers in the state. So far, the Senate’s spokesman has taken his campaign to 10 local government areas in the state. They are: Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Obingwa, Isiala Ngwa North, Umunneochi, Isikwuato, Bende, Ikwuano, Aba North and Aba South. Abaribe has promised to serve the state well if elected, and that he is bringing integrity, honesty and transparency into governance. Dr. Uche Ogah Ogah has embarked on contact, mobilization, consultation and awareness creation. He has established a campaign office in Umuahia, the state capital. Ogah is one of the few aspirants whose branded campaign vehicles are all over the place waiting for the INEC whistle. He has used every opportunity to drive home his ambition. He is a regular guest at church programmes and fund raising activities. He is the preferred chairman at social events. He has endeared himself to the people through the Masters Energy Oil outlets. His campaign slogan is ‘Abia Rejoice.’ At the campaign office, large flex banners of his image adorn the three storey edifice. Dr. Okezie Ikpaezu Obingwa Local Government alone has four aspirants including Enyinnaya Abaribe, Acho Nwakanma, Friday

So far, some of the aspirants are seen only on the pages of newspapers. It is obvious some of them do not have the wherewithal to prosecute a project of such magnitude. Their impact is not felt anywhere

Abaribe

Nwosu and Okezie Ikpeazu. It could be observed that as far as the governorship race is concerned, Ikpeazu’s involvement has been marginal and in the realm of speculation. There is nothing about him that suggests he wants the job at the moment. At a time, it was rumoured that he is the ‘anointed’ of the governor. In this same mould is the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu. Eric Acho Nwakanma Nwakanma was a former deputy governor of the state. His office on Ojike Street, Umuahia, has a life size banner of his portrait. He is doing his consultations silently. Nkechi Nwaogu Though shut out of the race by the zoning arrangement she is not relenting. Senator Nwaogu’s campaign manager is Chief Tony Enweruzo, a political tactician. In fact, her recent brush with a transition committee chairman is reported to be during one of her consultation tours of the state. Dr. Okey Emuchay When he visited the party secretariat recently, Emuchay said he has set machinery in motion in all the local government areas for consultations. Beyond that nothing else has been heard of him. Dr Alex Otti The Diamond Bank GMD is also consulting silently. He told a group of journalists in Umuahia recently that he would not want to be fouled by the umpire, INEC. He is waiting for the ban to be lifted. Friday Nwosu Barrister Nwosu is one of the serious contenders. He started his contacts so early and he is favoured by the zoning as an indigene of Obingwa Local Government Area. He has his office at the Amaokwe Housing Estate in Umuahia. Nwosu’s campaign slogan is ‘The Future is Bright’. Sir Marc Wabara Since he made his intention known to the party leadership at the party’s state secretariat his posters have flooded Umuahia. But little is known beyond that. Pundits describe the political situation in Abia as worrisome even as those who are most favoured by the zoning are still silent apart from their visit to the party secretariat to make their intention known to the party leadership.

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

greeted his aspiration. Though he has not handled any political office prior to this time, his influence looms large especially among the middle class and professionals who see him as one of their own. He is said to be riding on the back of George, Ogunlewe and Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State for support. At a time, it was rumoured that he had met with the president who assured him of his backing for the plum Lagos job. In fact, the reconciliation of George and Ogunlewe was hinged on both of them working together for the emergence of Agbaje as the party’s governorship candidate. A visit to Ogunlewe’s Ogudu GRA residence, gives weight to the support of the former Minister for Works to Agbaje as a large white banner with Agbaje’s picture as the man the party needs for 2015 is conspicuously positioned. Agbaje, a Christian from Lasuwon family house of Ikorodu, Lagos East, has made no pretence about his desire to clinch the party’s ticket. He even assured the party of the support of his Lagos Agenda group and the infusion of ten other political parties into the PDP before the election. However, the posers are clear on the wall: how would the PDP deal with the issue of waiver for Agbaje since its constitution stipulates that, anyone who wants to run for elective office under the party must have been a registered member of the party for at least two years? Would the party initiate a process of waiver for him or would he still stick to his claim of being a registered member of the party in the past two years? How would other members of the party see his candidature if he eventually emerges? Would the party still go for another round of nestfeathering over Agbaje? All these questions are certainly in the belly of time. Owolabi Salis: Friend of the masses He is a lawyer cum accountant, a grassroots politician from Mushin. He has contested for the Lagos gubernatorial ticket of his party on two occasions and lost. He also aspired for the posts of PDP’s National Secretary but gave in at a point. Regarded as a friend of the masses owing to his interest in community and human development, he is into many empowerment programmes and always claims he has no godfather. The critical challenge for him is securing the support of delegates for the election. During the 2011 elections, he sponsored a handful of his party members for state and national assembly election. No doubt, he is one of the shining stars in Lagos PDP and has the financial weight to campaign but the sinking point is his decision to reside more abroad than Nigeria. Ade Dosunmu: Looking for a second chance Against all odds, he emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate in 2011 through George’s war chest against other aspirants. Though the outcome of the election was sour for the party, his supporters believed that he lost to Fashola owing to the division in the party. He scored 300,450 votes as opposed to Fashola’s 1,509,113 votes. The quiet but unassuming former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) seems to have picked up the gauntlet to test his popularity among party members and Lagosians for the second time. Though some people within the party opine that he has had his opportunity in 2011, his supporters, however, aver that he is a better party man and product after the 2011 outing. Would George still direct delegates under his control to queue behind his once revered political son or would he dump him for another adopted son? Only time will tell if Dosunmu’s second venture into the governorship race will see the light of day. Musiliu Obanikoro: Still testing the water He has a strong cult followership in the state and is regarded in some quarters as the fittest candidate that can

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Dosunmu, Doherty, Salis race for PDP ticket

Dosunmu

Doherty

Salis

Dominic

square it up with the APC in the state. He arguably has the richest dossier in political office compared to other aspirants in the party. He has served as a local government chairman, a commissioner, senator, a High Commissioner to Ghana and presently a Minister of State for Defence. In 2007, he came second after Fashola, losing by a small margin. No doubt, Obanikoro is a top-drawer politician with formidable grassroots support. In the wake of the crisis that rocked the party before and after the 2011 election, Obanikoro exhibited a measure of political wittiness by not pitching tent with any of the groups scrambling for the soul of the party but related cordially with the leaders of the caucuses at both ends. While some pundits assert that the former envoy may have jettisoned his gubernatorial ambition to lead President Jonathan’s second term bid in the SouthWest, others avers that his candidature as PDP flag bearer in Lagos has already been vetted from Abuja and that he was given the ministerial slot to keep him in the steam of patronage and also place him at an advantage ahead of other aspirants. Already, some members of the

party have made it clear to the minister to stick with his Abuja job, others, mostly local government party chairmen are said to be backing Obanikoro. It is only a matter of time before the stance of Obanikoro is known, but either way, it is yet to be seen how he will infuse himself into the party’s scheme of duties if he eventually decides not to contest. Adegbola Dominic: No age limit in politics He was the governorship flag bearer of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011 and could be vividly remembered for his gestures and hilarious contributions at the gubernatorial debate of that year. At 65, Dominic, who is a medical doctor believes his popularity and programmes would endear him to Lagosians. Only time will tell if

As at the last count, no fewer than 11 aspirants have expressed interest in the PDP governorship ticket

the strength of the Igando-based doctor could carry the rigours of active politicking and campaign. Akintoye Branco-Rhodes: Banking on outside chance He is a son-in-law to Dr.Tunji Braithwaite and is not a greenhorn in politics as he once served as the National Treasurer of the Braithwaite-led Nigeria Advance Party. While his area of political strength is still cloudy, the posters of the NAP governorship candidate in 2003, is already glossing major parts of the state. Others who are interested in the party’s ticket include popular tax and property consultant, Babatunde Gbadamosi. Also, a lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse; a former Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Segun Ogundimu and Nigeria High Commissioner to Jamaica, Olatokunboh Kamson. As things stands, the Tunji Shelle-led state executive has a task to ensure that the 15-years governorship jinx which has made the coveted seat elusive to the party in the state is broken in 2015. But more importantly, the party leadership must ensure that, unlike previous efforts, the process of producing its flag bearer in 2015 must be seamless and popular.

POLITICS 17

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

EMMANUEL MASHA writes on the abolition of zoning by the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to pave way for Nyesom Wike’s governorship ambition in 2015

hen the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) met last week and agreed to dump zoning in the 2015 governorship election, the move was supposed to end the agitation by some ethnic nationalities in the state for a shot at the governorship. It however, appears that the issue of zoning has not gone away as some have described the move as a planned plot to favour a particular candidate, because of the strong influence he wields in the party. Some aggrieved members of the party, who are of this opinion wonder why the party’s leadership should suddenly jettison zoning despite an agreement within the party that power should rotate among the ethnic groups. Others are pointing accusing fingers at the chairman of the party, Chief Felix Obuah and his executive of plans to perpetuate the rule of the Ikwerre ethnic nationality. That is where the Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike naturally comes in, because as an influential Ikwerre, who has the ambition to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi, many see him as the mastermind of the party’s decision. He is regarded by some as the party’s leader in the state, apart from the fact that he has the resources to execute his governorship ambition if given the go-ahead. In a communiqué, the party had declared that: “The state chapter of the party has not and shall not zone the governorship ticket of the party to any ethnic nationality, senatorial district or local government area. Consequently, all constitutionally qualified members of the party are free to vie for the party’s ticket to allow for the best candidate to emerge.” According to some anti-Wike members of the party, technically, what this means is that if the minister succeeds Amaechi, one senatorial district will have dominated the governorship position for 20 years beginning from 1999. But it is necessary to recall that the position by the Obuah-led executive did not just come out of the blues, considering that on June 23, 2013, Obuah cleared the air on zoning during the grand sensitisation of the wards by the Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI), Ikwerre Local Government Area chapter, at the Elele Civic Centre. At the event, Obuah had accused his predecessor, Chief Godspower Ake and Amaechi of stealing his mandate, which he noted was restored by a “Political Tiger.” The party chairman said he was “grateful to Chief Nyesom Wike who came to rescue me and restored my mandate. I will continue to support him in whatever he wants to be and whatever level he wants to Wike

PDP paves way for Wike go. He is my leader and mentor.” He urged the people of the state to support the minister’s development initiative, which, according to him, cuts across the 23 local government areas of the state. Obuah also assured that the mandate to serve in any position will be given through votes, and that the party will offer equal opportunities to every son and daughter of the state, irrespective of their ethnic nationality. Expectedly, one of the leaders of the party, His Highness Anabs Sara-Igbe, who wants the governorship position to be zoned to Kalabari has dismissed PDP’s position on zoning, arguing that the foundation of the PDP in the state was built around it. Sara-Igbe, who strongly opposes the candidature of Wike, said: “People must calculate political mathematics. You don’t say because you are in power or because you have money and decide to base your actions around it. Those who have ruled Rivers never had money; it is the wish of the people that play out. Therefore, because you want to be the governor, because you have money, you are therefore sure of the governorship, it is a lie, because the governorship of Rivers State is not for the highest bidder. It is only God that ordains people to rule.” A

What this means is that if the minister succeeds Amaechi, one senatorial district will have dominated the governorship position for 20 years beginning from 1999 governorship aspirant from Kalabari, Prince Tonye Princewill, risks being suspended just like Hon. Elemchukwu Ogbowu, Lolo Ibeneonye, and Sara-Igbe among others whose campaign for fair play pitched them against the party’s leadership. Princewill, who leads the Princewill Political Associates (PPA), a group that formerly boasted of the present APC chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and the party’s spokesman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, may not have erred in any way, but based on past action of the party, he risks being sanctioned for “swimming against the tide.” On Wike, he said: “While some look at him as the enemy, I have utmost respect for him. He stood and defended the president when others did nothing and he helped keep the party above ground when APC was determined to bring it down. If you are a member of PDP, you would do well to be grateful to him and Felix Obuah for standing firm in the face of that onslaught. But they are not alone, many people stood behind them as leaders to wage that war. “I believe that by being John the Baptist, it is your place to point to Jesus Christ. Wike may not be governor in 2015 but he may be heavily involved in who will become, so I prefer not to offend him unless I have no choice. His GDI movement is formidable but so is my lean a n d

efficient PPA. We played a major role in 2007 and 2011 and we intend to play an even greater role in 2015.” The Ogoni are also keen on producing the next governor, arguing that it would amount to marginalisation if they are denied the chance in 2015. When some Ogoni leaders met recently, they pointed out that no Ogoni has ever been deputy governor, speaker of the state House of Assembly or Chief Judge in the state’s history. They urged other ethnic groups in the state to show understanding and support in the quest of the Ogonis to produce the governor in 2015. Meeting under the umbrella of the People of Ogoni Ethnic Nationality at a mini-congress, they said they have been oppressed by successive governments in the state. “…despite our huge contributions to the peace and sustenance of Rivers State and Nigeria, we have been deliberately oppressed, neglected and marginalised socially, politically, economically and otherwise,” they said in a communiqué issued after the meeting. They also declared that “our agitation to produce governor in 2015 is justifiable; we therefore seek the understanding, cooperation and support of other ethnic nationalities in Rivers State in the spirit of justice and reciprocation of Ogonis previous support to others.” But it appears there is a split on the Ogoni governorship ambition as some groups have vowed to work tirelessly to ensure that Wike succeeds Amaechi. A rally, organised by Ogoni Youth Movement (OYM), had in attendance PDP’s Rivers South East vice chairman, Dr. Fred Kpakol, Chief Monday Ngbor and Hon. Kenneth Kobani, the Commissioner for Finance under Odili, among other Ogoni. The group said: “We will resist any injustice against an Ogoni man. We are neither against any political party that gives its ticket to an Ogoni man. Most of these men are representing their stomach infrastructure, not the interest and aspirations of Ogoni people.” Another group, the Ogoni Social Democratic Network (OSDN) has accused the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) of delving into political issues instead of being bipartisan. The group’s president, Goerge Kilsi Nubari in a statement attacked MOSOP for delving into politics and for campaigns against Wike. He said: “We urge MOSOP which is now gradually degenerating into an arm of the APC in Rivers State to ensure that it does not subject the reputation of MOSOP to question. “We condemn this posture of MOSOP to continually issue frivolous and bogus press statements lacking in truth and credibility and will urge its leadership to maintain the neutrality expected of the organisation in political party affairs.” As the party finalises moves to field Wike, the stiffest opposition may come from the Rivers Mainstream Coalition (RMC), a body of elders and prominent Rivers sons and daughters that “want to ensure fairness, equity and justice in the politics of the state.” The group says it wants to avoid a bloodbath in Kalabariland where up to eight prominent aspirants have shown interest in the governorship. This group believes in zoning, but the Kalabari should have it first before the Ogoni, and their ultimate task is how to get a consensus candidate for the PDP ticket.

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

OPINION Igbinedion @80: These are tough times for Nigeria (1) Matthew Hassan Kukah

et us pause and remember that today is the 13th anniversary of the day the doors of evil were thrown open by the sad events of destruction of the twin towers and the dastardly killing of thousands of innocent lives in New York. May God grant them peace, console their families and give the world peace. I now personally believe that I may live to be 80 or beyond because God has spoken to me indirectly this year. Let me recap so you can appreciate the basis of my optimism and please, say Amen to my prayer. Otherwise, how do I explain the privilege of being associated with so many 80 year olds in just one year? In June this year, I was in Ogwuta and presided over the burial of our father and friend, the inimitable and loving Justice Chukwudifu Oputa who had died at the age of 94. I had received an invitation to speak at the 94th birthday of the famous Financial Consultant, Chief Akintola Williams, a man I have never met. Although the event was called off at the last minute, I considered the invitation a great honour especially as I had been told that the great old man had insisted that he wanted me to speak at the event. On July 13th, I spoke at the 80th Birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka in Abeokuta. The following week, Professor Iruku and another over 80 year old man, my friend Chief Berkhout had refused to take no for an answer and insisted that I chair the book launch to mark Professor Irukwu’s 80th birthday. Now, I am here to

Awolowo was perhaps the first person to set up a Muslim pilgrims' welfare board in the early 60s even before the Federal Government. Would it not be a great country if we can hear the same good stories from our Muslim brothers and sisters, especially in northern Nigeria? preach at the 80th birthday of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin. Next month, I have already received my invitation to the celebration of the 80th birthday of our one and only General Yakubu Gowon. If after all this, I do not live to be at least 80 like them, then, I will hold these old men responsible for not interceding enough for me. Chief Igbinedion is not a Catholic, but he is celebrating his 80th birthday in St. Gabriel the Archangel’s Catholic Church which he personally built and donated to the Catholic Church. I have had quite a good number of Christians who have built mosques and donated to Muslims. Some Governors who are Christians and wealthy nonMuslims have built huge and medium size mosques for their Muslim constituents, but I am yet to hear

the same thing from our Muslim brothers. Chief Awolowo was perhaps the first person to set up a Muslim pilgrims’ welfare board in the early 60s even before the Federal Government. Would it not be a great country if we can hear the same good stories from our Muslim brothers and sisters, especially in northern Nigeria? When I received a letter from Cherry, the wife of the celebrant to be at this Mass, I was quite taken aback because I have neither met her nor the husband formally. Of all the Igbinedion family, perhaps Peter is the one I can claim to know a bit more than his elder brother. We first met formally when he came to my rescue some years ago after we apparently flew on the same flight from Lagos to Accra. The driver who had been detailed to pick me did not show up. As I looked around for the driver, Peter walked up to me and introduced himself. He offered to give me a lift to wherever I was going. I told him of my predicament, but he offered to wait for me. After over 30 minutes, he himself suggested that he would give me a ride. I had taken a risk of trusting my hosts who had said I would be picked up. Peter then not only offered me a ride, but insisted on checking me into the hotel he himself had booked. I finally connected with my hosts but Peter hired a taxi and sent me off the next day. Now, Peter, I am returning a favour. • Hassan-Kuka is Bishop of Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church. He made these remarks at Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin’s birthday mass in Benin, the Edo State capital, last Thursday, September 11.

APC and deficit of internal democracy Femi Ayelabowo

ust when the All Progressives Congress was trying to come to terms with the departure of Nuhu Ribadu, its presidential candidate in the 2011 elections, another of the party’s chieftains pulled out. In announcing that he was dumping the party too, Chief Tom Ikimi threw up gory details of what went for internal democracy in the APC: the domineering influence of former Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was suffocating. For a man who played a central role in the formation of the APC by managing the tricky merger of those four legacy parties, Ikimi should know what he was saying. The revelation that the party lacked internal democracy and was run on the whims and caprices of one man, was weighty but it was not entirely new. We have heard it all before and Tinubu himself hardly bothers to deny that he plays the sole king-maker in the party, ramming his choice candidates down everyone's throat. When he replied Ikimi, he took his pound of flesh, saying the Igueben high chief was simply a mole planted by Peoples Democratic Party to hijack and/or destabilize the APC. It was also an opportunity to rationalise his role in the

crisis rocking the party. The issue here is not about the bitter altercation that followed Ikimi’s ‘revelation’ that Tinubu was running the organization like a fiefdom. How he is able to run rings around other major stakeholders in the party is a topic for another day. My concern here is the manner in which the opposition party which held so much promise at the outset is gradually bleeding to death, and weakening its chance to give the behemoth a good run in next year’s national elections. Though there have always been concerns about the manner in which strange bedfellows in the four main opposition parties were cobbled together into the APC, few expected the implosion it has begot so soon. Cracks are not just appearing on its wall, whole partitions are falling off already. The pulling out of two of its founding leaders, Ibrahim Shekarau and Attahiru Bafarawa, former Governors of Kano and Sokoto states, respectively, had started the exodus, followed shortly after by the former military governor of Lagos State, Brig-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), his Borno counterpart Ali Modu Sheriff and former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode. Though their stories may be different from Ikimi’s,

the situation in a party must be of the worst kind to make its presidential torch-bearer in as recent as the 2011 elections, Nuhu Ribadu, to also jump ship. As we approach the processes that will herald the 2015 general elections, the APC, sadly, no longer holds to Nigerians the promise it once did. The much it could boast about internal democracy was rubbished by the shenanigans that pervaded its last national convention. That charade made the PDP look like a congregation of Saints and it is no credit to Tinubu that such anti-democratic dispositions are consistently linked to him. If he is that ambitious to become a presidential running mate, even under a MuslimMuslim agenda, he is entitled to that but rather than deploying cold exclusionist politicking he should submit to the larger interests of his party. That agenda being built around Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu, stands on a myth that both men are politically impregnable in the North West and South West political zones, respectively, from where they will muster the electoral muscle to win the 2015 presidential election. Of course, this is not true if the results of Buhari’s performance in the last three presi-

dential elections as well as Tinubu’s party’s electoral performance in Ekiti and Ondo States are considered. That calculation, as unrealistic as it is, has already triggered a process that undermines democratic practices within the APC by silencing those opposed to the proposal. This is the cause of the exodus. Besides, to railroad the party into that pre-arranged agenda that serves the personal ambitions of a few, does violence to democracy. As it is, it has become the topic within the APC so much that unconsciously, alternative choices appear to have been foreclosed. Definitely, the party cannot be a credible alternative to the PDP if it consistently panders to the dictates of one man. And if the party does not reinvent itself, disaffection within its ranks will sooner than later, render it electorally impotent. I can understand Buhari’s desperation after three failed attempts at the presidency, but must he also play the puppet and acquiesce to this short-cut to nowhere? And to believe that Tinubu will deliver the party’s presidential ticket to him on a platter of gold is at best delusional. •Ayelabowo contributed this piece from Ibadan.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Not yet DISCO time for electricity consumers

he Federal Government currently owes the power distribution companies (DISCOs) N95b arrears of subsidy meant to offset cost of electricity to domestic consumers. Of the N100bn subsidy, which was to have been released to the industry between 2012 and 2013, only N5bn has so far been paid by the government. The money covers the N12 subsidy per kilowatt/hour of electricity that the government says it currently pays on behalf of electricity consumers. By Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC’s) computation, consumers are supposed to pay N24 per kilowatt of electricity per hour, but because of citizens’ adverse reactions to higher tariffs, the government took up the responsibility of paying half of the amount as subsidy for consumers in the R2 category, to which most households belong. The Federal Government, as part of its efforts to provide stable electricity, said in 2012 that it had set aside N100b to support the MultiYear Tariff Order in the country, which in a more plain language simply means to subsidise electricity consumption for that year and the next. Technically, therefore, the Federal Government is indebted to the power generation, distribution and

transmission companies to the tune of the subsidy arrears, which are payable to the Market Operator, an arm of the transmission network, which acts as a treasury unit for the industry. It is, thus, incumbent on the government, as a matter of urgency, to honour its pledge to the power firms in the country to keep them afloat and enhance their capacity to render qualitative services to the public. However, we hasten also to make the point that the fixed charge of N750 for private power consumers and over N200,000 for commercial business owners is not only exorbitant but another form of subsidy that can keep the power firms going without their having to wait for any kind of largesse from government. We make bold to say that since the coming on board of the power firms, electricity supply has not improved significantly, even though tariffs have been jacked up beyond reasonable limits. It is clear that the power firms are desperate to profiteer at the expense of the public. There are still cases of crazy bills, homes without regulatory meters but whose residents still pay bills to officials of power firm who scarcely make remittances to government coffers. It is appalling that majority of Nigerians and companies in the country still rely heavily on genera-

tors. In fact, electricity by power firms is standby for the general public. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be too much hope that things will improve so soon. Nigeria is a huge market and is certain to guarantee any genuine investor good returns on investment. But, first, these firms must render credible, verifiable and invaluable services that will endear them to the hearts of Nigerians. The tendency by the DISCOs to hanker more after profit than service, which this whole subsidy payment and fixed charges represent to us, does neither the DISCOs nor electricity consumers any good—ultimately. The power firms must of necessity invest in their business and stop blackmailing the government and the public to pay for services not rendered. The truth is that the power firms are killing industrial growth and development in Nigeria. So many companies are downsizing, while several others have been driven out of business. Sadly enough, many have relocated to other countries for better economic fortunes. It will be recalled that when the telecommunication industry was privatised, the positive impact of such move by government was felt immediately. With the power sector, the reverse has become the case; nothing has really changed. It must worry every stakeholder that while

neighbouring West African countries, including lowly Benin Republic just across the border, enjoy constant power supply, Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, wallows in unedifying darkness because people just refuse to do what they should to turn things around. Nigerians had hoped that the power problems would be finally laid to rest once the DISCOs took over the sector, but alas, things seem to have worsened. Against this background, we urge the government to address the issue of non-performance by the DISCOs with immediate effect. The first step in this direction is to stop payment of fixed charges by all categories of consumers immediately. As it is now, the power companies can still thrive even without supplying constant electricity provided consumers pay fixed charges, which run into billions of unearned money every month. Government must also stop paying subsidy to the power companies without necessarily hiking tariff from the present regime. From what we have seen, the problem of power supply in Nigeria is neither high nor low tariff; rather, the refusal of the power companies to invest in the business they fought hard to buy over from government that is at the core of the problem. Government can make them work for their money by removing sources of easy funds as there are currently.

MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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20 POLITICS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Kwara women launch “1 for More” Women took the initiative recently in Ilorin, Kwara State as they launched a platform for expanding their involvement in the politics of the state. The stage was set through the first Kwara Progressive Women Summit hosted by former Minister of State for Health, Princess Funke Adedoyin. BIODUN OYELEYE reports

omen in Kwara State have been in the news of recent. For a whole day last week, the women virtually took over the state as they launched the “1 for More” campaign in the state. The project is a brainchild of former Minister of State for Health, Princess Funke Adedoyin, and seeks to propagate the gospel of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Impressed by the turnout and glamour that attended the occasion, national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyedgun said it would be replicated in all the states of the federation. Oyegun, who was represented at the event by APC deputy national chairman (South), Chief Segun Oni, said with the new formula, his party was set to sweep the 2015 general election. “1 for More” initiative entails the appointment of a woman as APC Ambassador and the woman in return will woo four members of other parties into APC. The four recruits are also expected to woo four persons each into the APC and every one of them are expected to be mobilised to take active part in the elections. The Banquet Hall venue of the event was filled with women in uniform dresses with different head gears who danced to music from artistes on stage within the hall. The participants all came from the 16 local government areas of the state. Oyegun urged Nigerians to vote massively for APC in 2015 “so that Nigeria can begin the journey to greatness” because, according to him, “Nigeria has no business with poverty and insecurity.” He further said: “This is the time for Nigerians to reject what we do not want. Princess Adedoyin has given us the winning formula with which to win the 2015 general election. The initiative will be replicated in all the states of the federation.” Host governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, promised that more spaces would be created for women, especially in the political sphere to express themselves and maximise their potential for national development. Ahmed said it was in the best interest of the country that women are accorded greater recognition. “It is in the interest of our current and future generations to create more spaces for our women to express themselves and achieve their maximum potential, especially in the political sphere where women are still under-represented.” He said the theme of the summit “Real Development and Women Participation: An Agenda for positive Change” coincides with the efforts of the APC governments to proffer structural solutions to national challenges. “While affirmative action has seen more women occupy political offices, we must do more and reserve a higher proportion of economic opportunities such as access to credit and other em-

Ahmed and Adedoyin

Some women participants at the summit

powerment for women,” he said. In her remarks, Adedoyin called for more representation of women in the various elective positions to enable them contribute their quota towards the socio-economic and political growth of the country. On how the project will work, she said: “It is designed to be a vehicle for galvanizing greater female political activities and participation across the state, with a view of achieving the following: mobilise 10 women per ward in all 193 wards of the state, at least five of which will be cardcarrying APC members, while inviting the participation of at least five voters per ward to register with APC, thus using this summit to increase party membership among women, “Use the summit to jump-start activity among women across all the 16 local government areas with a view to preparing for the upcoming elections and develop an agenda to address the issues that concern women while harnessing ideas and suggestions to move the state womenfolk forward.” The party’s National Women Leader, Hajia Ramatu Aliyu, who was represented by the women leader for the North Central, Hajia Hassanat described Adedoyin as an asset to the party and commended the former minister for organising the first ever

While affirmative action has seen more women occupy political offices, we must do more and reserve a higher proportion of economic opportunities such as access to credit and other empowerment for women summit for women within the party. A few days later, the women again came to the Government House, under the auspices of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS). Their mission was to join other interest groups canvassing for a second term in office for Governor Ahmed. President of NCWS in Kwara State, Hajia Barakat Atunse, who led her members to endorse the governor for a second term, observed that the achieve-

ments of Ahmed signpost a need for his second term in office. Atunse told the governor: “Without being rhetorical, sir, your shared prosperity project contents is having farreaching positive effect on Kwarans. It is devolving and trickling down to the doorsteps of all Kwarans regardless of political colouration or inclination. The project touches on employment, education, health, socio-economic transformation, water, energy, road etc.” While noting also that the wife of the governor, Omolewa, has through her LEAH Charity Foundation touched “lives unimaginably, particularly women and children,” Atunse pledged the commitment and support of the women folk to the state government in improving the well-being of the women in the state. In his remarks, Ahmed said his programmes and policies are women and children-friendly because women play complimentary and exemplary roles in family and nation-building. He revealed that women in the state access the over N700 million Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs) revolving loans through cooperative societies to empower them financially and promised that his administration will continue to carry out programmes that will enhance the well-being of the women folk in the state.

ARTS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

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TONY OKUYEME tony.okuyeme@newtelegraphonline.com okuyemeogom@yahoo.com

“MOVIES WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS; TELEVISION WILL MAKE YOU RICH; BUT THEATRE WILL MAKE YOU GOOD.” ― TERRENCE MANN

CULTURE

National Troupe Creative Workshop: Boost for children, live theatre

Some of the children in a dance performance

Tony Okuyeme

articipants at this year’s edition of the one-month Children Creative Station Workshop (CCSW) organised by the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN), feted audience at the Cinema Hall 2, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, to rich array of presentations that included the command performance of Eriri (The Sting), a play written by Mike Anyanwu. The Children Creative Station Workshop, otherwise called the NTN CCSW, was conceived as a long vacation theatre workshop for children between the ages of 5 and 17. It is primarily aimed at exposing participants to general theatre practice and appreciation of the creative arts. The command performance of Eriri therefore offered the children participants the platform to showcase what they have learnt during the one month workshop. And they did not disappoint the audience that included arts patron, Professor Paulina Adebusoye, Engineer Solomon Uwaifo who was father of the day, Artistic Director/CEO, National Troupe of Nigeria, Mr. Martins Adaji, foremost arts matriarch Mrs. Francesca Emanuel, former President of the National Council of Women Societies Mrs. Emily Aig-Imoukhuede, author and arts matriarch Mrs. Mobolaji Adenubi and Mrs. Diagbonya Uwaifo who graced the command performance as mothers of the day, as well as well as parents, guardians, and siblings of the participating children, and others. For about two hours, the enthusi-

astic children held the audience spellbound with colourful and inspiring performances – acting, mime, improvisation, singing, dancing, and drumming, among others - that brought to the fore array of talents that abound in the country. Apart from the carriage and use of the stage, on note is articulation and projection which they handled almost effortlessly. Directed by Josephine Igberaese, a Director in charge of Drama, National Troupe and Coordinator of the workshop, Eriri unveils the actualisation of the political will that led to the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorate by the British Imperialist and the struggle that led to Nigeria’s independence. It is a folk-drama about the Nigerian socio-political cultural narrative through 1914, the year of amalgamation to present day. Featuring Nollywood star, Ann Njemanze as narrator, the play is built around Eriri, a symbolic and abandoned black baby that ends up in the home of Fredrick and Flora Lugard as a foster

What this little effort here represents is to imprint in these young minds our history, culture and civilisation, which is a sign of our humanity

child in 1914. The naming of the child which coincides with the amalgamation of the different clans into one central leadership under the colonial administration of lord Fredrick Lugard, creates the rising conflict of the play, as the paternity of the baby is contentious. Eriri is, “a lesson on the fragile and sensitive links of individualism to our collective and shared humanism. The intention is to provide a historic interface between history and theatrical experience for young people. It is our hope that the dialogue engendered through this one month creative experience will continue to regenerate in the fertile and imaginative minds of all the children that participated in this year’s children’s creative station”. Noting that the children’s creative station project is to encourage and nurture talents in young children/youths, who otherwise may not have an avenue to develop their talents outside the walls of a formal school, Ms. Igberaese explained the dream envisaged by the troupe is that children who are talented will be able to explore their dreams to the limit of their abilities. “The one month spent will be most memorable in the lives of the children. The station is a collection of children from all backgrounds and walks of life. It is hoped that the bond of friendship and teamwork achieved will be lasting and have positive impact on each child. Today’s special command performance is a product of the one month intensive training workshop, and we do hope you do not judge the children too hard, because they have all tried to give

their best,” she stated. According to her, the National Troupe of Nigeria celebrates the centenary literally through the eyes of our children. “Eriri was chosen to inform and educate the children and their peers on Nigeria’s political history. ‘’We want to educate them not just as citizens of this great and indivisible entity called Nigeria but also as future leaders of this noble entity’’ she said, adding the play is a by-product of the National Storytelling Competition among Primary and Secondary students in the country in 2013. “The Playwright’s ideas came through the lens of the productions presented by various schools during last year’s National Storytelling Competition. The play is a simple narrative of the historical details of our struggle for independence. The sad irony is that those ideals which the independence struggle represented has no place in today’s Nigeria. “It gives me hope that our children and youths understand the complexities and difficulties that this country is faced with. We are indeed very lucky to have a generation that will be detribalised, who do not carry on their shoulders the burden of cultural differences, religion and social class. This program is to help the children to cross the borders of their cultural luggage with dignity, knowing who they are and where they come from first and foremost – Nigerians and Africans in diaspora. What this little effort here represents is to imprint in these young minds our history, culture and civilisation, which is a sign of our humanity.” A programme of this nature, Igberaese posited, will create certain impacts on children’s learning process. Children do not learn when sitting at their desks but assimilate information more effectively while acting and using their creative minds. “I crossed the border of theatre ethics by letting the children explore fully to their abilities through the platform of experimental theatre. I dare to dream that this programme will not only enrich lives of these children presently but will also help them in their future endeavours. I dare to dream of the Creative Station becoming a vehicle for National Integration and Unity. I dare to dream that our children and youths will grow to become men and women without borders. I dare to dream that the educational system in Nigeria will provide enabling environment for our children to express their creative talents. As a people, we cannot invent a culture but can only enrich it by building on its foundation. “As we celebrate the ceremony today, my hope for Nigeria is that we will leave a better future for our children.” Artistic Director and CEO of the National Troupe, Mr. Martin Adaji, said the Children Creative Station Workshop is a veritable platform to harness the creative potentials of the children at an early age. He therefore, urged parents to take register their children for the next edition of the workshop. “I thank the parents who allowed their children to undergo the training which is part of our commitment to harnessing the creative potential of the children at this early stage. I also urge other parents to take a cue from this and register their children for the next event whose forms are already available for collection,” Adaji said. The programme was supported by Golden Penny, Rite Foods, Nutri-C, Nestle and National Theatre.

22 ARTS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Learning second language increases critical thinking skills, creativity, says Emuchay Tony Okuyeme

earning a second language increases in young children critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of mind, thereby curtailing the social malaise hindering development. The prospects of learning a second language and developing the brain of a child are significant and advantageous over children who only have knowledge of one language. Dr. Joyce Emuchay of the Department of Languages and Literary Studies, College of Humanities and Management Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, made this assertion at this year’s closing ceremony of the four-weeks Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) organised by National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), North-Central Zone, which took place in the Zonal Office Conference Hall, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday September 10, 2014. The university don, who was the chairperson at the occasion, called on parents to speak more of their indigenous languages with their children at home. He also urged parents, pupils and the public to avail themselves of the rare opportunity offered by NICO when next the programme comes up. Also speaking, the President of the South-South Peoples’ Assembly Kwara State chapter, Evangelist Elder Uyi Williams, who was a participant in the Yoruba and Igbo language

classes, expressed his heart-felt gratitude, on behalf of the participants, to the leadership of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), under Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, adding that, the teaching of Nigerian Indigenous Language by NICO enhances understanding and continuing traditions and continuity of the peoples’ ties to their land.

While congratulating the participants for the successful completion of this year’s language programme in the Zone, the NICO Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Lawal said catching them young do not only help children to know who they are, and that, the programme of the Institute constituted a wider movement to establish societies on a human

scale that were in conformity with nature. On the whole, this year’s Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) in NICO North-Central Zone had two centres: Olumawu College, No. 2, Police Road, Off Onikanga GRA Ilorin, ran seven languages, namely, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Batonu, Nupe, Tiv and Izon with the partici-

A scene in the stage production of Ahmed Yerima's play, The Wives at Terra Culture, Lagos, by Performance Art Workshop Studios

P-Square, Wande Coal, Olamide, others celebrate Beat FM anniversary Olushola Ricketts

ey names in the Nigerian entertainment industry rallied behind the urban and lifestyle radio station, Beat 99.9 FM to celebrate her 5th anniversary. The Spice Route, Victoria Island, venue of the event tagged ‘Industry Nite’, witnessed a large turnout of celebrities, artists, business executives, top media personalities and fans alike who came out in their numbers to celebrate with the radio station. According to Producer Temitayo Ibitoye popularly known as Tee-Y Mix, Beat Fm has come to

Wande-Coal

pants, including, Mr. Tiamiyu Sikiru Oladele, Controller, Federal Ministry of Environment, Kwara State; while the Federal Staff School, Adewole Estate, Ilorin, which served as the second centre, had three (3) languages taught, namely, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The NILP in the two centres ran simultaneously with a total of 93 participants.

Olamide

be a household name in the broadcasting business and surpassed expectations within five years. "So I commend and encourage them to keep the flag flying as this is just the beginning of new things to come," he said. Also commenting on the event, Tolu Oniru aka Toolz said: “Looking here today you can see the place is packed with people; it shows you the kind of love Lagos has for us. It’s evident that we are on right path and can only improve better in the years to come.” Dj Spinall, Dj Caise and Dj Snatch didn’t disappoint as they dished out hits upon hits to the

P-Square

delight of music lovers in attendance. The event which was put together by El Carnaval, YSG Hubs, and Smirnoff, afforded many listeners and fans of the station an opportunity to mingle with some of the radio presenters and celebrities. Celebrities in attendance include P-Square, Lynxxx, Latasha Ngwube, Wande Coal, Iyanya, Dj Neptune, Show Dem Camp, Ty Mix ,Olu Maintain, Uti Nwachukwu, Sound Sultan ,Vector, Latasha Ngwube, General Pype, Capital Femi, Bracket, Dammy Krane, Loose Kaynon, Harrysong , Skuki, Ketchup, Samklef, and Emma Nyra.

Sexual violence: British High Commission holds exhibition, fashion show

he British High Commission in Abuja on Thursday 11 September 11, 2014, organised an exhibition and fashion show in support of the international campaign to end sexual violence in conflict. The event showcased three fashion designers displaying different styles on the runway; all of the collections were made with the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict fabric which was specially commissioned for the campaign. There was also an exhibition of art work specially produced to highlight and support the campaign to end sexual violence in conflict. In his opening remarks, British Deputy High Commissioner, Simon Shercliff said, “Ending conflict-related sexual violence is of fundamental importance to international peace and security. All too often, a culture of impunity exists around sexual violence in war. The stigma for such crimes usually rests with the victims. Sexual violence in armed conflict disproportionately affects women and girls, preventing their full political, social and economic participation. It also affects men and boys. The overwhelming majority of survivors of sexual violence in conflict never see justice. The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war often condemns the victims to lives of poverty, slowing national economic development.” “We want to create an irreversible movement towards ending the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict. We want to agree practical agreements that bring together and focus the efforts of the whole international community, including governments, the UN and other multilateral organisations, NGOs and civil society in an ambitious and cohesive programme for change that supports wider efforts to address current and active conflict situations around the world”.

MOM&PARENTING

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OLUWATOSIN OMONIYI oluwatosin.omoniyi@newtelegraphonline.com tosin042001@yahoo.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Married...but single Marriage is sharing; sharing of everything, either sweet or bitter. It is an institution, where couples get prize for the years of their sharing instead of paying the price for marriage. But how else can one explain it, when couples after exchanging marital vows to live together in happiness, for better, for worse are actually living single? Is it by design or fate? OLUWATOSIN OMONIYI looks at the unusual agonies of such families.

A couple exchanging vows in the church

t will be exactly eight years by September 27 that Funmi, 34, exchanged the marital vows with Abayomi Akindayomi. Friends and relatives gathered to wish them well. The wedding ceremony was blissful and glamorous. It was like a wedding planned from Heaven. Unfortunately, the marriage ended almost immediately it started. For three weeks after the glitz and panache ceremony, Abayomi’s long chased dream of an American Visa sailed through and he travelled. He went with the excuse that he was going for greener pasture. He also promised that once he was able to settle down, he would arrange for his young wife would join him over there. One year passed by, two on as well. In fact, five years passed by, Abayomi still did not arrange for Funmi to come to America. Neither did he visit home. He was actually yet to settle down. Eventually, by the sixth year, he opened up to his wife that he got married in America in order to get the Green card and the marriage arrangement, otherwise known as ‘arrangee’

would last five more years. By then, she would be clocking 39 years. He convinced her that the Green card will enable them to live a comfortable life in America and they would be able to have all their children over there. Again, she agreed! For a while, Funmi was able to keep her fidelity but along the way, she succumbed to pressure from male admirers, especially, as she had needs physically, spiritually and financially. As she told New Telegraph: “The moment people know that a lady is married, there is little or nothing they can do to assist her. My parents were like, they have handed me over to my husband. So, he should shoulder the responsibilities. But where is the man?” She added that “I felt famished, body and soul.” Ordinary, friends and family members should be sympathetic towards her but she was rather condemned for having a extra-marital affair. Her mother was the first to cast the stone at her by calling her a ‘loose woman’. She said mom told her that it is more heard of that a man cheats on his wife, and not the reverse. After all, it is a man’s world. According

to her, one of her friends insisted that it has become a sin onto her because she is legally married; therefore, what she did was a condemnable act. “Instead of sympathising with me, she told me if I knew I couldn’t cope being married in such a cirumstances, I could have divorced my husband. I actually tried it but my parents forbid it,” she said. It is indeed a tortuous bondage of marriage for Funmi, as her father put it. Grace Nnamdi, from Orlu in Imo State is a nurse and mother of three kids. She has been in Texas, America for seven years going. Her husband, Kingsley, a Lagos-based businessman is distraught. They had planned for the wife to travel first and the husband and the children will join a year later. But after six years, Kingsley is threatening divorce. He can’t bear his wife’s absence any longer. One day in Agege, Kingsley was so frustrated with the emotional torture that he shouted over the phone: “Will I send my penis to you by post or do you expect me to go put it in a pipe to get satisfaction? Remember your promise of commitment to this marriage!” He told New Telegraph that he al-

PHOTO: www.monitor.co.ug

lowed his wife to go abroad because he saw other ladies in the same profession with his wife going there and coming back with testimonies. “I wanted her progress and I believe I should let her achieve it but it’s like I have shot myself in the leg now,” he said. Kingsley said he is under severe pressure from friends and family members to get married to another woman. The ladies also won’t let him be. He said they are always willing to assist him in everything he does even when he did not solicit for their help. For Foluke Adejumo, 26, lamentation of regret has become her slogan. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone into this marriage. It is as if I was blindly guided into it,” she said. For Adejumo, it is awkward. By 8pm, she rushes home from wherever she may be. Why? To consummate the marriage online- through Skype! Unlike the Akindayomis mentioned above, she has a baby girl to show for the wait. However, marriage counselors frowned at married couples who are living single. CONT INU E ON PAGE 24

MOM&PARENTING

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

How to help kids with anxiety

MOM’S ALERT

Seven truths about your kids and anxiety

School Fever

nxiety is a part of everyone's life, to some degree. But for kids, it's an emotion that can be frustrating, scary, and overwhelming. "More than anything, we want our children to know that everyone experiences [anxiety]. We need to teach our kids that it's normal," child development expert Denise Daniels told us. Denise has served as an adviser on children's grief issues to both former First Lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is the cofounder of the National Childhood Grief Institute, and has partnered with the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence to develop The Moodsters, a line of toys designed to teach kids to work through emotions. We couldn't imagine anyone more qualified to share her advice on the topic than Denise. Here, seven things every parent should know and what you can do to help your kids work through their anxieties and fears. Relax, it's normal "Anxiety is just such a normal part of life; everyone experiences it," Denise told us. "It's the most commonly known health issue there is. More than anything, we want [our kids] to know that everyone experiences it we need to teach our kids that

it's normal." 2. Anxiety can be turned into a teachable moment. While it's tempting for parents to shelter their kids from discomfort and fear, Denise encourages us to take advantage of teachable moments. "We can help our children grow if we help them face the risks," she says. Offer them plenty of support, and discuss anxiety in small, manageable doses for maximum impact. 3. You'll be able to spot the signs. In toddlers and preschoolers, be on the lookout for signs of regressive behavior, as they can indicate underlying anxieties. Are they having meltdowns or tantrums or becoming clingy? Avoidance of situations (for instance, not wanting to walk by a house where there's often a dog outside barking) can also be an indicator of anxious feelings in a younger child. 4. Your responses have a major impact. If you sense that your child is feeling anxious about something, encourage them to talk about what they're afraid of. "Be sure that you're validating your child's feelings," Denise says. "Those are real. A child's perception is different than our perception. Don't minimize or dismiss it. The reality

is, they are afraid of it." 5. Relate to your kids. "It's always good to share with them," Denise told us. "Try saying: 'When I was your age, I was really afraid of XYZ.' It levels the playing field and enables kids to recognize that you're going to be there to validate those feelings." 6. Anxious parents can lead to anxious kids. But there's something you can do about it. "If you're having stress and anxiety and it's ongoing, be sure you have someone to talk to," Denise says. "You have to have support for yourself — whether it's from a friend or psychologist." As your kids get older, Denise says that it's OK to acknowledge your own anxieties around them. "Talk about what anxiety feels like and the effects that it can have on the brain and the physical body. Explain to them that it's not a bad thing, it also keeps us safe." 7. Kids crave a model of calmness. "Be calm when [your kids are experiencing] anxiety," Denise says. "When things happen, they make us nervous, but you can handle this. Model that by staying calm and reassuring them your children will develop skills that can help them manage these feelings." Culled from www.Circle of Moms.

Agonies of married but single spouses CONTINUED FROM PAG E 23

They said it is ungodly and it leads to temptation. Like the old adage that says when two elephants fight, the grass suffers, children, they pointed out are usually the victims of such marriages. Laura Akintemi, a marriage counselor in Lagos,, said children raised in intact married families: are more physically and emotionally healthier. They are less likely to use drugs or alcohol and to commit delinquent behaviors. “They also have a decreased risk of divorcing when they get married

Traditional wedding bliss

and are less likely to become pregnant or impregnate someone as a teenager,” she said. Akintemi added that “a child living with a single mother is 14 times more likely to suffer serious physical abuse than a child living with married biological parents. A child whose mother cohabits with a man other than the child’s father is 33 times more likely to suffer serious physical child abuse.” Pastor Shade Etomi of Mountain of fire and Miracle Ministry, emphasized the importance of living together as it will have a profound effect on the well-being of both partners. “It

will yield great joy and fulfillment or heartache and disappointment to the partners. The principles are universal, as a foundation for marriage,” she said. Etomi explained that marriage exists only when the partners involved are living together. She said if either of the partners is absent, then it is married but living single. “You are married but remain single when it is only one person fighting the battles of two people alone,” she said. Such couples, she added are exposed to temptations and dangers.

PHOTO: www.citypress.co.za

Grace Essen

very parent looks forward to a new school session. September is the month 'the school month' even shops, markets and banks feel the impact of a new school session. Yes there will always be something new happening in our lives and the lives of our children. A new class, a new level, and another exam Every stage with its own unique worries, anxieties and all. With excitement and joy we go shopping for every item on the school list and much more, the books make it all so alluring with the glossy covers and the smell of freshness as we write the name of the child on each of them. With the euphoria comes the angst preying on every mother's mind - Will my child copes in school? What if he gets pushed and has a terrible fall? What if another child pokes a pencil into his eye? Is the school free from the Ebola virus? Alicia, a mom of three, just like the rest of us looked forward to her youngest child starting kindergarten and this was her experience: "On the night before he began kindergarten, my youngest son, Joshua, announced he’d rather go to jail than go to school. What if my legs get cramped on my carpet square? What if my ears hurt from listening? What if I forgot to raise my hand? What if I'm the only one who can't read? To be honest, Joshua's worries resonated with my own. I'd prayed unceasingly over the school year to come and was certain God has placed my son in the kindergarten classroom that would best meet his needs. Yet I just couldn't imagine my little boy thriving in any classroom at all. He loved piles of dirt more than stacks of books and preferred hammers over pencils." She is not alone; every one of us has been there or has just arrived. I remember when my daughter left home for the first time to stay in the boarding school. My excitement was mixed with serious anxiety, though I tried as much as I could not to let it show. As we waited at the outdoor reception area of the school for her turn to get checked in, she sat quietly and just gazed, as if she was trying to absorb her new school and new 'home'. After she was checked in, I found my way into her dormitory though that was not allowed. I couldn’t just leave her, not yet. I tried to help get her settled until all of us 'overzealous moms' were asked to leave. I wasn't done yet,

I went to the back windows until I located her room, and I kept giving instructions and more instructions, the poor girl kept saying "Yes mummy, yes mummy" and looked even more confused. I knew I had overstayed my welcome. I left finally, not sure if I had made a good decision leaving my daughter behind. The paths may vary, but they all feel the same. Yours may be a three year old trekking towards a new school year, or maybe your three month old leaving for Day care for the first time. Maybe you are at thirtythree skipping into a new job or you are stepping into an empty nest at sixty-three, no matter where we are headed, we all experience the uncomfortable feelings that come with change. It is our place as moms to help allay the severity of the fears that make the big leap so daunting for our children. We can make it easier for them and at the same time encourage and urge them on. When we talk to them they listen, but they listen more to the words that are unspoken. They search our eyes to know what we say. We should expect that it would not be perfect, the teachers are human too with their own imperfections. Children will fail ill, they may not come first in class, some will come home having peed in their shorts, and all sorts. It is all good. The good thing is that we are all growing - us and them. As moms we can only give our best, do our best and then take the rest to God in prayers. He takes care of those that are beyond us. It was a bit rough for my daughter at the beginning, and so it was for me too. But we have since adjusted. She looks forward to going to school now, while I have learnt to worry less. One of the days I visited, I was advised to take her home to see a doctor, she had been coughing, and she cried at the idea of being away from school for a few days, I couldn't believe it. I am sure your own child survived the new thing s/he has had to face. Yes they will always survive, all they need is a mom cheering them on to success. Sure enough Alicia's son did adjust well in school too. In her own words: "Joshua's school year wasn't perfect, but God was faithful. And nine months later, as we waited for the big yellow bus to chug up our street on the last day of school, my son admitted he'd changed his mind. With a toothless grin, he conceded. Going to kindergarten was definitely better than going to jail!" • Grace Essen is the founder and president mum to support initiative.

BUSINESS Tuesday, September 16, 2014

What's news Oil blocks’ bid round: $17bn investment may elude Nigeria as DPR foot-drags The investments of about $17 billion is being set back by the foot-dragging of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on the allocation of oil blocks for the 2014 marginal field bid round programme, New Telegraph has learnt.

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Enugu Centenary Park’s infrastructure to gulp $300m –MD The development of infrastructure and other related costs of Enugu Centenary Park would gulp $300million, the Managing Director, Private Estates International West Africa, the developer of Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City, Mr. Kingsley Eze, has said.

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NGC to lift force majeure on 130mmcf gas supply by Dec The Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) may lift force majeure on 130million cubic feet (mmcf) gas supply to Ghana and other West African countries before December, New Telegraph gathered at the weekend.

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Boko Haram: Maiduguri, others in darkness for 90 days The electricity blackout in Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State has hit three months, New Telegraph learnt at the weekend as the Boko Haram insurgency continued to take its toll on the energy needs of the state.

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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) Godson ikoro , Asst. Editor (Money Market) DAYO ADEYEMI, Property Editor ADEOLA YUSUF, Energy Editor WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor

KUNLE AZEEZ, Senior Correspondent Chuks Onuanyin, Energy Nnamdi Amadi, Reporter JOHNSON ADEBAYO, Asst. Production Editor

NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

OPL 245 acquisition: Will Justice now come from abroad? }p-29

ayodele aminu, Deputy Editor, business

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

PPMC, P’ Harcourt, Warri pipeline contracts’ renewal talks collapse FLOP Contracts between these public enterprises have crumbled since about two years ago Adeola Yusuf

alks to renew the pipeline crude supply contracts between the Pipeline and Products marketing Company (PPMC) and authorities of the Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical have been shelved. The contracts between these public enterprises have collapsed since about two years ago. New Telegraph learnt at the weekend that authorities of the two refineries that had earlier abandoned the PPMC pipelines crude supply contracts reconsidered talks on the contracts renewal after they were assured by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of efforts to restore the crude pipelines. PPMC and the two refineries are subsidiaries of the NNPC. The corporation had earlier supervised the signing of a new set of marine supply contracts between PPMC and other marine transporters for crude supply. “We consider this marine crude supply to be more expensive than the supply through the pipeline and as a business concern, we engaged in talks on how to renew the pipeline supply contracts with PPMC,” a source at the Warri refinery told New Telegraph at the weekend. “The only thing I can say about insinuations that this new talks have been shelved, is that it is on and off, but I can assure you that once the assurance that pipeline would be restored become visible, the pace of the talks will increase,” he said. The immediate past Group Managing Director, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, had earlier confirmed the new contracts for marine crude supply operations between PPMC and the

CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor Abdulwahab Isa, Finance Editor

two refineries. He blamed the abandonment of the old contracts on activities of pipeline vandals. The supply of crude oil through the pipelines to refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri, Yakubu told New Telegraph on the side line of a capacity building workshop for energy editors and correspondents in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, has

been grounded by the activities of these vandals. The Warri and Port Harcourt refineries, he said, “now depend on marine transport for crude supply.” Capacity utilisation of the refineries is, according to him, 60 per cent of the plate capacity, which is “not because the plants cannot take more but because we have challenges of crude

supply, so we have to go through marine.” He explained: “If you don’t have a pipeline that supplies your crude continuously you cannot maximise the volume put in. So, if you have to go through marine and alternative sources, you are constrained CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

L-R: Mr Bruno Witvoet, Executive Vice President, Unilever Africa; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's Minister for Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Mr Paul Polman, Unilever Global CEO and Mr Yaw Nsarkoh, Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria, during the Unilever Global CEO business visit to Nigeria at the weekend.

17 new airlines: Expert frets over Nigerian carriers’ future BLEAK OUTLOOK For instance, Lagos – Abuja in 1994 was N2,200 equivalent to $10, but today it costs $150, 18 years after Wole Shadare

lans by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to issue 17 new airlines the Air Operators Certificate (AOC)

24 airlines to jostle for paltry 7m yearly traffic IATA predicts only 12 world carriers by 2050 by 2015 has raised concerns over whether or not the wouldbe airlines have the capacity to sustain their operations in the volatile airline industry. The aviation authority had, last week, disclosed that these carriers are already undergoing AOC process in accordance with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (NIGCARs2009). Expected to be issued certificates are Air Peace, which is billed to commence operations this week; Air Taraba,

Ean Aviation, Executive Jet Air Services Ltd, Okada Air, Gyro Air Services Limited, Izy Air Limited, Jupiter and Manyatta Engineering Services. Others are Nestoil Plc, Prime Air, Toucan Air, Baltic Airlines, Oriental Airlines, Meridian Airlines, Millennium Travels and Tours and Air First. These airlines are expected to join the other seven active scheduled carriers, bringing the number CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE August 2014............................8.5% July 2014.................................8.3% May 2014.................................8.2%

LENDING RATE

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Sept 12)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N168.80 InterBank Rate . . . . . . . . . . 11.57% Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N283 Prime Lending Rate. . . . . 16.93% Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N220 Maximum Lending Rate..25.83% • Foreign Reserves – $39.57bn as at 10/09/2014

EXCHANGE RATE

(Official As at Sept 12)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N156.73 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N255.32 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N202.76 Source: CBN

26 business | news DISCOMFITURE Investors are worried about the 10-month nondisclosure of oil blocks’ identity Adeola Yusuf

he investments of about $17 billion is being set back by the foot-dragging of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on the allocation of oil blocks for the 2014 marginal field bid round programme, New Telegraph has learnt. This came as the promise by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani AlisonMadueke, to complete the oil blocks allocation in February 2014 remained unfulfilled, eight months after the deadline. A timetable for the oil blocks' allocation given by the minister showed that the DPR was expected to make the identity of the oil blocks known by February 2014. The agency, which, according to its spokesperson, Paul Osu, promised to make the names of the blocks available for bid round ready on its website, is yet to do so. Last weekend when New Telegraph checked the website, the identities of the blocks were yet to be made known. Meanwhile, 10 months after the commencement of the bid round in November 2013, the identities of 31 oil blocks for sale is still shrouded in secrecy. New Telegraph’s investigation showed that the industry regulator, the DPR, is neither willing to announce the identities of the blocks nor make them available on its website for now. An industry source told this newspaper that this is already dampening the morale of prospective investors. “The investments of between $15 and $17 billion are being de-

Oil blocks’ bid round: $17bn investment may elude Nigeria as DPR foot-drags Agency fails to execute Alison-Madueke’s February promise

layed with the continuous footdragging by the DPR to make identity of the oil blocks available on time. This has created a very big lacuna in the flow of investments, which would have been hastened if the agency had followed the time table for the bid round exercise. “What we know is that the DPR is still waiting for a goahead, which it may not get as soon as we think,” the source said, adding that everybody “is disturbed at the level of embarrassment this kind of arrangement is having on our level of coordination.” Already, he said, that “the foreign and local investors who want to bring massive investments to the country through the marginal field bid round are holding back because of nondisclosure of oil blocks identities, 10 months after the commencement of the process.” The Federal Government, it would be recalled, had indicated that it would conduct the exercise in March, 2014. Mrs Alison-Madueke who announced this on November 28, last year, stated that the bid round would be completed by March, this year. The failure to meet the deadline has further fuelled speculation that government has a sinister motive to auction the field to its political allies controlling major of the indigenous oil firms. Also, the failure of the DPR to release the lists of oil fields that are available for sale is eroding transparency in the process. The regulator had earlier been accused of deliberately flouting the guidelines

PPMC, P’ Harcourt, Warri contracts’ renewal talks collapse C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

based on the volume that those systems can deliver.” According to the NNPC helmsman, there “is a major challenge. You cannot put a barrel in Excravos and get it at Warri end. So, that pipeline is completely abandoned. Warri to Port Harcourt is the same thing, it is absolutely impossible.” A source at the NNPC told our correspondent that these contracts were signed at the first quarter of this year. Aside from the pipeline business, the PPMC operates a fleet of marine vessels used for moving products along Nigeria’s coastal water – from Port Harcourt and Warri to Lagos and from Port-Harcourt to Calabar. These are vessels of varying capacities. Managing Director of Pipeline and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, Mr Haruna Momoh had earlier disclosed that the federal government

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

and International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry lost a total N376 billion in five years to pipeline vandalism. Mr Momoh, who said this, maintained that the loss was recorded between 2008 and 2013. The activities of vandals, he said, had made it difficult for PPMC to meet up its obligation in delivering oil and gas products to their various destinations across the country. The PPMC boss said: “Pipeline vandalism has been a major challenge to downstream sector as it truncates effective product distribution within the network. “The vision that drives PPMC is to provide petroleum products to the domestic market at affordable prices. But the activities of these unscrupulous elements have been a hindrance to achieving these objectives”, he said. According to him, the PPMC pipeline network’s current assets amount to 5,120 Kilometres.

ostensibly to use the exercise as a platform to raise money for politicians for the 2015 general elections.

At an energy forum in Lagos recently, some investors accused the DPR of not implementing the guidelines for the fields, say-

ing that the agency is being used by the Federal Government to woo politicians with oil blocks ahead of the 2015 polls.

L-R: Managing Director, Microsoft Mobile Devices & Services (MMDS), West and Central Africa, Mr Nick Imudia; Head of Marketing, MMDS, West and Central Africa, Ms Debbie Shepard; Consumer Channel Group Director, Microsoft Nigeria, Mr Mark Ihimoyan and Head of Sales, Emerging Markets, MMDS, Mr Christopher Brown, during the launch of Lumia 930 Smartphone, in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

PARTNERSHIP The project is being executed through a public-private partnership

Dayo Ayeyemi

he development of infrastructure and other related costs of Enugu Centenary Park would gulp $300 million, Managing Director, Private Estates International West Africa, the developer of Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City, Mr Kingsley Eze, has said. He also said that the company has opened the estate to the public through the sale of plots of land. “Significant progress has been made in infrastructure, while several off-takers have commenced construction of their building units,” he told 3Invest Limited, an online real estate marketing company. He disclosed that the project was being executed through a public-private partnership be-

Enugu Centenary Park’s infrastructure to gulp $300m –MD tween the Enugu State government and his organisation. The project is part of efforts to provide residential, commercial and industrial properties to the people. According to 3Invest Limited, Eze said that upon completion, the city would parade modern infrastructure, including electronic security system, water treatment plants, telecommunication facilities, wireless network, recreational park, hospital and schools. Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City is the premiere lifestyle city in sub-Saharan-Africa. Covering about 1,097 hectares, the city is characterised by breath-taking vintage layout and a rare fine blend of functionality that impeccably connects living with sustainable grandeur. The residential

development caters for a wide range of housing needs, including entry-level, middle-income, executive, and super exclusive homes. Describing the new city and its facilities, Eze said: “The community is located around an 18-hole golf course that winds itself around the entire stretch of the development.” According to the managing director, an additional exclusive nine-hole golf course is located within the Presidential Park Estate, which opens only to residents of the “super exclusive, ultra-secure community within a very secure Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City.” He said that a five-star clubhouse and hotel are been planned to be the central meeting point for residents in the community.

Expert frets over Nigerian carriers’ future C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

of airlines to 24, with all of them jostling for a paltry seven million domestic passenger traffic. This is coming at a time experts are calling for merger of Nigerian airlines to be effective and efficient to cater for the yearnings of travellers, who crave quality and efficient services. They noted that already, Nigerian airlines are small and fragmented with relatively few-

er passengers to carry, coupled with wrong business model that has made them go extinct few years after they begin operations. Speaking with New Telegraph, former Executive Director of the defunct Belview Airline and now Chief Executive Officer, Sabre Network Inc, West Africa, Mr Gabriel Olowo, said that the industry is presently too fragmented. He noted that individually; the airlines are small and weak

with their economic pendulum swinging more towards insolvency rather than success. “The International Air Transport Association (IATA), consisting of over 200 airlines, has predicted that there will be only 12 world airlines by 2050. What is the hope for Nigerian airlines? The year 2050 is just 37 years from here and really, it is not too far if you flash back to 1978 when Murtala Mohammed International Airport was opened.

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Ghana’s $10m fine on Nigeria

EXPLANATION NNPC has opened up on Ghana’s $10m fine Stories by Adeola Yusuf

he Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) may lift force majeure on 130million cubic feet (mmcf) gas supply to Ghana and other West African countries before December, New Telegraph gathered at the weekend. This came just as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) opened up on the $10 million fine imposed on Nigeria by Ghana over the corporation and its JV partners’ failure to meet up with the contractual agreement on gas supply to the neighbouring West African country. The Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, NNPC, Dr. David Ige, said that many of the disruptions in gas supply to Ghana and other West African countries have been addressed and where net shortages existed as in 2013, these were remedied according to terms of the agreement through penalty payment of $10 million. Ige said in a statement on the NNPC website: “Nigerian suppliers (NNPC, Chevron and NPDC) have a contractual obligation to supply about 130mmcf/d of gas to customers across West Africa. This transaction is governed by a supply agreement, which recognises various operational and commercial situations. “Since 2013, there have been some unfortunate supply disruptions affecting gas shipped through the West African Gas Pipeline. These have been largely due to force majeure (FM) events like the outage of the Escravos-Lagos pipeline and other secondary pipelines such as the Trans-Forcados pipeline. “Many of the disruptions have been addressed and where net shortages existed as in 2013, these were remedied according to terms of the agreement through penalty payment of $10 million. “The outstanding force majeure situation is being addressed by NGC and should be lifted very shortly. Beyond this, major interventions are being implemented to grow supply to meet the full requirements of both WAGP and the

EXECUTION FIRS has expressed readiness to execute court ruling on the closure of the power plant

Federal High Court has granted request by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for warrant of arrest against key officials of the Ewekoro Power Plant over the company’s deliberate evasion of N114 million taxes. The Court sitting in Abeokuta, which found the company guilty for its failure to pay outstanding tax liabilities in a case

NGC to lift force majeure on 130mmcf gas supply by Dec

Gas plant

domestic power market. It is expected that much of the net supply shortages beyond the FM induced reduction will be addressed within the next four to five months.” According to him, Nigeria “remains committed to supplying the West African region. The current supply challenge is being addressed aggressively and full contractual supply should be attained within a few months. “In addition, new independent suppliers are also looking to develop supplies to WAGP beyond the base volume. The medium term projection is very positive. Meanwhile, the corporation reaffirmed its commitment to the contractual agreement it had with Ghana, Togo and other

West African countries on gas supply.” He noted that recently, the media was agog with news that NNPC and some of its joint venture partners have been fined over a breach in gas supply to Ghana through the West African Gas Pipeline. Ige explained that the development throws more light on efforts being made to expand gas supply infrastructure to boost gas supply to meet domestic needs and international obligations. He said: “The Abuja-KadunaKano gas pipeline is going to be the first gas pipeline that would be built on a public-private-partnership basis in Nigeria. The total pipeline project between Calabar to Kano is estimated to cost of about $5 billion. As

you bring private investors to partake in this kind of project, there is a more rigorous demand in terms of bank-ability, before the investors can come in to fund the project. “This entails that we have to close in on all engineering designs and all that, the right of way has to be mapped out, environmental impact assessment, all of these are critical requirements before you access international funds. But more importantly also is assurance on revenues because the investors want to be sure that if they put in such amount of money, they would recoup it at the end of the day. So getting all of these done actually takes a lot longer than normal unlike when the project is being funded 100 percent by government.”

Tax evasion: FIRS gets nod to arrest Ewekoro plant officials brought before the Court by the FIRS also ordered the closure of the power plant. Head, Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS, Mr Wahab Gbadamosi, who confirmed this development in a statement obtained by New Telegraph at the weekend, maintained that his agency would execute the court ruling. The court ruling, the FIRS noted, followed “a suit by the FIRS and a prayer that a bench warrant be issued by the court

for the arrest of key officials of the company, who evaded arrest.” FIRS said that the court gave the order after series of adjournments occasioned by the refusal of the company’s officials to appear in court in the case brought against it by the Service. It noted that court bailiffs carried out the seal up exercise, with a combined team of the FIRS officials and officers of the Lagos state Police Com-

mand. The statement added that the FIRS approached the court to compel the company to meet its tax obligations but the company neither appeared nor was represented in the court prompting multiple adjournments. It said: “Dissatisfied with the company’s conduct, the court issued a bench warrant to compel appearance, which the officials of the company equally evaded, necessitating the sealing of the company’s premises.

Ige noted that over the last one year, NNPC has been working diligently on the right of way survey for the entire pipeline length and had progressed with the engineering. He added that NNPC hopes to cross a major threshold by the end of this month (September). “We have done our initial bankability assessment and we continue to review this because of the dynamic nature of the gas supply situation. We know that in order to secure bankability we need to be very firm on the gas supply, so all of these things are being done or were being done to put the project in place to attract the right investment,” Ige said. “So, I think all the work being done is very relevant to the project going forward. Essentially, the committee would have to look at how to ascertain what can be adapted incrementally to get the project going, so they would be looking at options now and all that work that has been done in the past would now manifest.” On the relevance of AbujaKaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project to Gas Master Plan, Ige said: “The intention of the gas master plan is to grow the economy with natural gas. Currently, half of the entire country is not connected to gas infrastructure, so, by the time we open up the northern part of Nigeria to gas, we would begin to see significant boost in the cost effectiveness of energy sources that has an immediate impact on the industrialisation of the north and job creation.

28 business | ENERGY REASON TCN has attributed the power outages in Borno to the setting ablaze of 330/132kV transmission substation in Damboa Stories by Adeola Yusuf

he electricity blackout in Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State has hit three months, New Telegraph learnt at the weekend as the Boko Haram insurgency continued to take its toll on the energy needs of the state. A 330/132kV transmission substation in Damboa area of the state was set ablaze in June and the TCN, which confirmed the 90 days of black out in the state, blamed the arson for the power outage. The transmission company

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Boko Haram: Maiduguri, others in darkness for 90 days

TCN rules out supply till November also ruled out the possibility of electricity supply from the burnt transmission to those areas until November because of technical reason. A statement by the TCN’s management said that with the necessary security and logistic support from the Federal Government, the company has already organised materials and mobilised manpower to carry out necessary repairs on the transmission line as well as the reconstruction of the burnt transmission sub-station. “However, due to the mag-

nitude of the repairs required, work on the transmission line and substation may take up to eight weeks to be completed,” the statement read. The TCN, however, assured the people of Maiduguri, Damboa, Biu and the environs that it is taking measures to remedy the power outage being experienced there since mid-July, 2014. “The outage was caused by a cut conductor on the 132kV transmission line from Damboa to Maiduguri as well as a 330/132kV transmission substa-

tion in Damboa, which was set ablaze in June, 2014,” the company said. The company said it has also put in place urgent plans to complete the 330kV transmission line from Gombe to Maiduguri and the new 330/132kV substation at Maiduguri, to enable it supply electricity through the 330kV transmission line to Maiduguri and environs. Also, a 150MVA, 330kV transformer meant for Maiduguri substation would now be moved from the Shiroro Substation en

route Abuja to Maiduguri. TCH said: “The contractors and in-house engineers that would ensure speedy repairs are set for the task. “TCN re-assures the good people of Maiduguri and environs of the federal government’s determination to ensure a robust and efficient transmission system nationwide (Borno State, being an integral part of Nigeria is not an exception), noting its preparedness to promptly attend to any fault in its transmission system, in order to continue to efficiently wheel power to Distribution load centers nationwide. “TCN sincerely regrets the inconveniences to the esteemed customers of the affected areas in Borno State and reiterated its commitment to the quick resolution of the problem.”

UK to US Court: Review BP ruling

Power installation

China tasks Nigeria on oil, gas regulation RELEVANCE China has indicated more interest in Nigeria’s energy sector

onsul-General of the Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Lagos, M. Liu Kan, has expressed his country’s growing interest in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Liu appealed to Nigeria's Government to create enabling environment for cooperation between the two countries to continue to thrive. The Consul-general, who said that China is the most populous nation in the world, maintained that the country would also depend on Nigeria to satisfy the demand of her increasing population for crude oil and gas.

He told a news agency that China “is the most populous nation in the world and her demand for oil and gas is increasing by the day,” adding that Nigeria “is the largest oil producer in Africa and ranks the 11th largest in the world. “China will, therefore, continue to value her good relations with Nigeria in areas of

oil and Gas. “We see a great potential in our cooperation with Nigeria in areas of oil and gas in the future,” he said. Liu said that China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) were already

doing well in Nigeria’s oil sector. Many more Chinese oil companies, he said, had indicated interest in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The envoy expressed optimism that the cooperation between both countries would continue to be on a win-win basis.

‘Heirs Holdings to generate quarter of Nigeria’s power’

eirs Holdings has the ambition to generate at least a quarter of Nigeria’s power consumption needs in the next five years, the company’s Group Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu, has said. According to the Heirs Holdings chairman, the power industry is a catalytic sector and the development of Nigeria and Africa cannot happen without fixing power. He described the USA’s

Power Africa Initiative as an amazing opportunity to democratise access to power for Africans, saying, “the $2.5 billion investment commitment we have made reflects exactly how excited I am about it.” Heirs Holdings’ interests in the power sector include Transcorp Ughelli Power, a gas-fired, thermal power generating plant, which was acquired under the privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector. Elu-

melu is expected to deliver a keynote address at this year’s West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC) in Lagos from 18-19 November. The 11th edition of this long running, high-level energy conference and expo would once again gather government, utilities, consultants and investors to discuss the challenges of local markets, capacity building and investment.

he British Government has urged the United States Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling against BP over a 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that produced one of the largest class actions in American history. A Louisiana Court ruled penultimate week that BP was “grossly negligent” and “reckless” in the spill, a move that could add nearly $18 billion in fines to the over $42 billion in charges, Reuters reported. In a friend of court brief, the UK government said that the ruling by US District judge, Carl Barbier, raised grave international concerns by undermining confidence in the “vigorous and fair resolution of disputes.” The filing said BP, which has “gone to great lengths to restore the Gulf Coast,” was now being required to pay large sums to others who were not injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The British Government said that treatment meted out to BP undermined the fairness and trust necessary for international commerce. The US and Britain conduct more than $200 billion in trade each year and UK businesses are responsible for 17 per cent of all foreign direct investment in the US, according to the filing. BP, two weeks ago, said that it would appeal the court ruling. In response to the brief, BP said the petition emphasises the importance of fair and consistent application of law. BP argued that the Fifth Circuit’s decisions, if allowed to stand, will fundamentally alter class action law and discourage companies from settling complex cases. “..if companies are exposed to liability for losses they did not cause, it would likely discourage them from investing in the United States,” BP said in a statement.

BUSINESS | ENERGY 29

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

OPL 245 acquisition: Will Justice now come from abroad?

Jonathan

British Court last Tuesday accepted the Milan prosecutor's request to freeze two bank accounts. These were Anglo-Swiss accounts containing a total of $190 million in the name of Emeka Obi, a suspected intermediary in the Oil Prospective License (OPL) 245 deal. Consequently, the controversial acquisition of the oil block crawled back into the front pages of newspapers across the World. The court, sitting in Britain, went a step further as it began the celebrated probe of the Chief Executive of Italian energy giant, Eni, Claudio Descalzi over suspected corruption linked to the $1.1 billion oil deal in Nigeria. A Milan prosecutor is probing the role of Mr Descalzi, his predecessor and another Eni executive over their role in the Italian group's 2011 acquisition, in partnership with Shell, of the rights to a field known as OPL245. The field has been estimated to contain as much as nine billion barrels of crude oil. The Court had, according to Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, accepted the prosecutor's argument that there was reason to believe the money may have been paid as part of an attempt to corrupt public officials. Under the deal, Eni made a payment to the Nigerian government of $1.09 billion (€844,000) to secure joint ownership of the block along with Shell, which had previously taken a 40 percent stake and had begun to develop the field. Shell claimed it did not contribute to the payment since it had already spent $542 million in operating the field. Lawmakers’ stance Before the Court case resurfaced, the House of Representatives had, in December 2012, after a two-day hearing into the deal ended, vowed to revoke the deal, citing its violation of an existing Indigenous Policy. The House adhoc panel, headed by majority leader, Leo Ogor, said it was more concerned about upholding the government’s policy that reserved the disputed bloc to local firms, than the intricacies of the N155 billion settlement. Under the government’s indigenous policy, 60 per cent of the blocks which reportedly holds over nine billion barrels of oil, was to be controlled by a local firm; with the remaining equity going to a foreign technical partner. “The Federal Government’s interest in the block is non-negotiable,” Ogor said during the probe. “No matter the amount you paid, we will sit down and rewrite the resolution and make sure it stays the

The Chief Executive of Italian oil firm, Eni, Claudio Descalzi is under probe as the case of bribe-for-oil-block in Nigeria resurfaced in Britain. ENERGY EDITOR, Adeola Yusuf who has been following the controversial deal for $1.1 billion Oil Prospective License (OPL) 245 acquisition, reports that the long awaited Justice may come from a foreign court. way it should have been.” The lawmakers were worried over why the Federal Government, after reawarding the block to Malabu as an indigenous firm, sold 100 per cent of the block to Shell and Eni for N165 billion. Malabu Oil sues Reps, AGF The firm fingered in the deal, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, had on June 2, 2014, went to the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. This court action was as a sequel to a resolution of the House of Representatives on February 18, 2014, which directed the immediate cancellation of alleged fraudulent sale of a lucrative oil block, marked OPL 245, to two oil companies, Shell and Agip. The plaintiff, which is a company owned by Mohammed Abacha, son of former military dictator, Sani Abacha, and operated by erstwhile Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete, was said to have pocketed $1.1 billion (about N165 billion) from the said illicit transaction. An ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives, which recently probed the transaction, aside recommending its outright cancellation, also okayed the drafting of a new agreement and the prosecution of all the government officials that facilitated the deal. However, dissatisfied with the decision, the company, in the matter it filed before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, prayed the court to determine “whether having regard to the provisions of sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, with respect to the investigative powers of the House of Representatives, same can over-ride the provisions of section 4, 5 and 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. It also prayed the court to determine “whether the House of Representatives can, by virtue of sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, exercise judicial powers, which are the exclusive prerogative of the judiciary, pursuant to the provisions of sections 6 and 251 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended. “Whether the decision and/or resolution of the House of Reps of Tuesday, February 18, 2014, interpreting or purporting to interpret the specific agreements between the Federal Government of Nigeria, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, SNEPCO, and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, NAE, dated April 19, 2011 with respect to various obligations of the parties to the

agreements is not a violation of section 6 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and therefore unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void and of no effect. “Whether the House of Reps and/or its ad-hoc committee (on transaction involving the Federal Government and Shell/Agip Companies and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in respect of Oil Block OPL 245) not being a court established by section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, or a court of law within the provisions of section 251(1)(e) of the constitution, can exercise judicial powers of resolving disputes or any dispute between the Directors and/or shareholders of the plaintiff company. “Whether the House of Reps decision and/or resolution of Tuesday, February 18, 2014, determining and/ or purporting to determine the ownership dispute of the plaintiff ’s company, a company duly incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, is not a piece of legislative judgment contrary to the provisions of section 4, 5, 6 and 251(1) (e) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and therefore unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void and of no effect." Aside the House of Reps, other defendants in the suit are the speaker of the House of Reps, the clerk, and Leo Ogor (for himself and on behalf of other members of the ad-hoc committee) The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice was also joined as the 5th defendant in the matter. Justice Ahmed Mohammed had adjourned the case till July 8, following a contention by two lawyers over who was duly briefed by the company to handle

Before the court case resurfaced, the House of Representatives had, in December 2012, after a two-day hearing into the deal ended, vowed to revoke the deal, citing its violation of an existing Indigenous Policy

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke

the litigation on its behalf. The deal Meanwhile, most of the money Eni paid was subsequently passed on to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company believed to be owned by Chief Dan Etete, a former Nigerian oil minister. In an episode that has come to be regarded as emblematic of Nigeria's problems with corruption, Etete had awarded the rights to the block to Malabu in 1998, at a time when he was close to Nigeria's thenmilitary dictator General Sani Abacha. Eni confirmed that Descalzi, who headed the company's oil division at the time, had been placed under preliminary investigation by a Milan prosecutor along with another company executive, the head of exploration Roberta Casula. The company said that its executives were being probed after a British court, last Tuesday, accepted the Milan prosecutor's request to freeze two bank accounts. According to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, these were Anglo-Swiss accounts containing a total of $190 million in the name of Emeka Obi, a suspected intermediary in the OPL 245 deal. Corriere said that the court had accepted the prosecutor's argument that there was reason to believe that the money may have been paid as part of an attempt to corrupt public officials. Last year, Obi sued Malabu via Britain's High Court and won an order that the company pay him $110 million in unpaid fees related to the deal, which brought Eni into OPL 245. Eni’s defense Eni insisted the company's action had been beyond reproach. “The entire payment for the issuance of the license to Eni and Shell was made uniquely to the Nigerian government," a statement said. It added: “Eni is cooperating with the Milan prosecutor's office, and is confident that the correctness of its actions will emerge during the course of the investigation." Eni's shares were down by nearly one per cent in early afternoon trading last Thursday in an otherwise broadly flat market. Last line The world is waiting patiently to know the direction which the pendulum of the case will swing to. This will check rising allegation of dirty deals in Nigeria's oil sector and put the nation on the right path.

BUSINESS | ENERGY

MAP Nigeria now has over 3,600 airborne geophysical maps aimed at mineralised targets Stories by Adeola Yusuf

he mining and minerals sector in Nigeria has, despite billions of naira spent by government and international agencies to revamp the sector, contributed less than three per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the stakeholders in the sector have said. Stakeholders who spoke at an event to herald the Africa Down Under Conference in Perth, Australia, called for greater collaboration between the government and the private sector to move the sector forward. Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Mohammed Sada, an architect, who also shared this view, expressed surprise at what was wrong with the nation’s mining sector. “From the ministry’s perspective, we are beginning to see some dividends of the reforms that we have been implementing. It is also noteworthy that as we travel out for investor out-reach programmes, we have received significant responses from individuals and companies who are interested in mining our minerals directly, as well as partnering with our local miners,” the minister observed. According to him, a fundamental requirement for investors in the mining sector is access to geo-scientific data, relating to the location and es-

Stakeholders bemoan mines sector’s 3% input to GDP timate of the mineral resources. “Being mindful of this fact, we have completed airborne geophysical survey covering 100 percent of the country landmass, measuring magnetic and radiometric parameters,” Sada stated. He added that the country can now boast of over 3600 airborne geophysical maps of different scales and products aimed at mineralised targets all over the country. Sada explained that the ministry with the support of the World Bank is presently building the capacity of local miners, which is critical to the pyramid structure of mining development. “Giving that it takes between seven to 10 years for successful mine development, I have every confidence that the mining sector will take its rightful place in contributing immensely the nation’s sustainable development and the attainment of the objectives of Vision 20:2020.” He added: “As we move forward on the various initiatives, having shifted paradigm from the direct-government participation model to the market-led model, as part of the reforms of the nation’s mining sector, we expect increased activity by private investors. Also, in our new role as regulator, government shall strive to avoid all negative consequences of market-led or private-sector driven mining by ensuring sustenance of the en-

Norway's Statoil hit by dry wells off Angola, US Gulf

orwegian oil firm, Statoil, has drilled dry wells in two areas in which it had high expectations, off Angola and in the US Gulf of Mexico, hitting its shares and raising questions over whether its successful exploration run is coming to an end. Statoil was the most successful offshore explorer last year, discovering more oil and gas resources than any other oil company in the world. It has great hopes for drilling in the pre-salt formations off Angola, where it said billionbarrel discoveries were possible. It was also hopeful that it could find hydrocarbons in the Martin prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. Both wells were estimated to contain a total of more than 250 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), or 100 million boe net to Statoil. But the firm said both wells were disappointing. "Not an exploration rock star anymore?" Swedbank analyst Teodor Sveen Nilsen said in a note to clients. "We must admit 2014 has been disappointing this far with poor results both in the Barents Sea, GoM (Gulf of Mexico) and Angola." Statoil shares were down 1.43 per cent at 0730 GMT, lagging the European oil and gas index, down 0.17 percent. "It is affecting somewhat the share at the moment," said Kjetil

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Bakken, an analyst at brokerage Carnegie. "It is fair to say that the Angola well could have been something big had they found something." The Angola Dilolo 1 well, drilled in Block 39 in the Kwanza Basin, was the first of eight attempts Statoil plans to make in order to strike oil in the country's pre-salt geology. Similar formations offshore Brazil, on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, have yielded large oil discoveries. "In this first well hydrocarbons were not encountered, but the operation did provide a valuable calibration for other prospects in the area. Further studies are needed in order to fully understand the well results," Statoil said in a statement. It will now move the Stena Carron drillship to the neighbouring Block 38 to drill a new well. Statoil holds a stake of 37.5 percent in Block 39 and 45 per cent in Block 38. In Block 39, it partners with Total, WRG, Ecopetrol and state firm Sonangol, while WRG, Ecopetrol and Sonangol are partners in Block 38. It is also participating in two more wells in the Kwanza basin in Angola, in block 25 with a well operated by Total and in block 22 in a well operated by Spain's Repsol.

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Joseph T. Dawha (left) with the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu at the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Abuja recently.

vironment required for a robust mining sector.” The sector, he said, according to a report by SweetCrude Reports, is yet to attract the biggest and most beautiful brides – namely major international players in the mining industry – into the country. The country and the government has done everything possible “to create the right regulatory environment for private investors to come and do business in Nigeria.” Speaking about Nigeria’s attendance at the conference, Sada noted: “We have been go-

GREENFIELD The LFTZ has secured loan for the construction of a Greenfield seaport

he board of directors of African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a total of $256 million for the financing of investments in Nigeria and Ethiopia. A statement obtained from the AfDB’s website explained that the approval for the loan, which was granted in Abidjan, involves the construction of port infrastructure such as breakwaters, quays, approach channels, dredging of the basin as well as captive utilities such as water and power. This comprises a $150 million senior loan to Lekki Port Lagos Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) Enterprise for the construction of a Greenfield seaport in the LFTZ. The loan for the LFTZ project, according to the statement, followed a 45-year concession granted to Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE), the special purpose vehicle of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) under a build, own, operate and transfer scheme. In Nigeria, on completion, the port would handle 2.5 mil-

ing and coming back for many years – many ministers before me have attended – and when we look around we don’t see anybody. “This time we want to go and meet with the right people, so that when we come back we shall expect a trail of the right kind of investors behind us.” He therefore craved the advice of Mr. Gauthier, noting, “We want to meet with you for advice so that we make sure that when we go to such international fora, we will do the right thing and attract the right investors,” he said.

Indeed, as the minister noted, many a delegation from the country to a mining conference – usually a large retinue of government officials and their aides, some of which have little or no business with mining – have almost, always missed the mark when it comes to attracting the right kind of investment into the sector. Sada joked that, oftentimes, due to the large gathering of people from all over the world to such conventions, government officials are left bewildered and have been wont to pitching to the wrong crowd.

AfDB approves $150m for Nigeria’s non-oil infrastructure lion 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 16.7 million tonnes (MT) of liquid cargo and 4.5 MT of dry bulk. Construction is expected to start in January 2015 with the container terminal operations expected to start in December 2018. The project, estimated at $1.675 billion, would be financed through a 54/46 debt to equity ratio “It is aligned with the Bank’s Nigeria Country Strategy Paper 2012-2016, which stresses infrastructure development in the non-oil and transport sector as well as the country’s Vision 2020, which emphasizes modernising infrastructure. “The project is also in line with the Bank’s Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) for West Africa, which emphasises linking regional markets through regional transport infrastructure,” the statement explained. For Ethiopia, the AfDB said it would contribute $5-million equity investment to the establishment of Kukuza Project Development Company (KPDC), a

new firm that would focus on early-stage design and preparation of African infrastructure projects. KPDC will assume turnkey responsibility for preparing the contractual, technical and financial arrangements of its projects, and marketing such projects to a range of potential private and public-private investors for onward implementation. The company expects to process between two and four new infrastructure projects per year. Thus, in 10 years, the company aims to develop 30 to 40 projects for a combined possible investment of over $5 billion. Other initial investors in KPDC include Allied Investment Partners (AIP) of Abu Dhabi, India Exim Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), one of the world’s leading project finance banks with a 10 per cent market share and an extensive network of Indian investors amongst its active corporate clients.

BUSINESS | ENERGY

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

BRIDGING Forte Oil has augmented fuel bridging and transport trucks to 1,100 Stories by Adeola Yusuf

Forte Oil mulls control of Nigeria’s fuel haulage business

orte Oil Plc said it added 100 new trucks to the over 1,000 in its fleet operations as a strategy to sustain operational efficiency and attain exceptional product throughput. The company, which said this in a statement, maintained that this is an audacious step toward an unrivalled market dominance in the Nigerian downstream sector. Its Head, Business Operations, Mr Tunji Rabiu, said that his company would change the landscape by taking this giant step of investing in large-scale trucks acquisition. He said: “As a distribution and marketing company, we believe our customers deserve superior service delivery, which remains our major focus, in addition to operational efficiency. We're changing the landscape by taking this giant step of investing in large scale trucks acquisition and as such set a new standard for product distribution in our industry.” Also, Mr Akin Akinfemiwa, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Forte Oil PLC said: “We are very confident that the acquisition of these 100 worldclass product delivery trucks is a very strategic investment that will substantially increase our capacity to grow

L-R: Group Chief Executive Officer, Akin Akinfemiwa; former Managing Director, NEPA, Joseph Makoju and Group Chief Financial Officer, Forte Oil, Julius Omodayo-Owotuga, during the launch of Forte Oil’s 100 newly-acquired product delivery trucks in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

our revenue, profitability and ultimately maximize value for our shareholders as we move towards our mission of building a long-term successful company; boosting investor confidence by making Forte Oil PLC the investment of

choice in Nigeria and globally. The Mercedes Benz trucks, which was financed through equity and debt provided by Heritage Bank, is a significant addition to the over 1,000 existing trucks its fleet operations as the company takes

NNPC/Chevron JV swells CSR in Lagos, P’Harcourt JUSTIFICATION The Chevron Nigeria Limited has given reasons for donating two ambulances

he Joint Venture (JV) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPV) and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) augmented its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Lagos and Port Harcourt at the weekend. The CNL, which made this known, also noted that it, on behalf of the NNPC/CNL JV, donated two standard ambulances to support the fight against Ebola Virus Disease in Lagos State. A statement by General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Deji Haastrup noted that the ambulances, which have been equipped with emergency life support tools and oxygen for optimum care of patients, were donated to support the core operations of the Ebola Operation Centre (EOC) and for Point of Entry (POE) activities of the EOC at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Health Services

in Lagos, respectively. “The first ambulance was handed over to the EOC, at the Public Health Central Library, Yaba on August 29, 2014 while the second one was presented at the Port Health Services office at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja on September 2, 2014, respectively,’ the statement read. Dr. Olubukunola Fagade, CNL’s Medical Director, who, Haastrup’s statement claimed, made the donations on behalf of the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture, “said the donations were

a part of the Joint Venture’s social investments in the area of health for the benefit of the people of Nigeria. “We see the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as a threat to the collective health and socio-economy of the country. We therefore reiterate our commitment to partner with other stakeholders to stem the tide of Ebola.” Receiving the ambulance at the EOC headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Faishal Shuaib, Head/Incident Manager EOC, who is also the Technical Advisor to the Honourable Minister

L-R: Dr. Olubukunola Fagade, Chevron Nigeria Limited’s (CNL) Medical Director, presenting the key to one of the ambulances to Dr. Morenike Alex-Okoh, Head, Port Health Services, Lagos. With them is Sunday Okegbemiro, also of CNL.

an audacious step toward an unrivalled market dominance in the Nigerian downstream sector. “The company aims to become the foremost Integrated Energy Solutions Provider in Nigeria, built on the pillars of of State for Health, lauded the Joint Venture’s effort, describing the contribution as invaluable in the concerted efforts at containing the disease. “This donation will definitely assist in dealing with this emergency. It is important to acknowledge the fact that Nigeria has done a very good job in acting quickly.” The statement added that at the presentation to the Port Health Services, “Dr. Morenike Alex-Okoh, Head, Port Health Services, Lagos who was accompanied by Mrs. Faleye, Head Nurse, received the Ambulance designated for Port Health assistance.” She was said to have described the donation as critical to the services rendered by her organization. “We are grateful to the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture for this wonderful support and with more of this kind of gestures; Ebola will soon be a thing of the past,” she said. Dr Fagade reinforced CNL’s commitment to Nigeria, especially in the aspects of economic and social development in the three thematic focus areas of Health, Education and Economic Development. He promised that the company will work tirelessly in partnership with other stakeholders to ensure that the dreaded disease is contained and stopped from spreading throughout the country. “We have a very strategic ongoing approach to support the work of the Ebola team in Nigeria and we are collaborating with other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy,” he said.

solid corporate governance, sound business ethics and compliance, enhanced safety, health and environment practices; driven by technology, world-class business process and highly skilled and motivated workforce,” the statement read. It added: “In line with its vision of becoming Nigeria's leading integrated energy group, Forte Oil diversified its downstream operations into related high margin energy businesses that include a subsidiary, which specializes in the supply of Well Production Chemicals and Drilling/ Completion Fluids to the upstream petroleum sector. “In line with its diversification strategy, Forte Oil PLC incorporated Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, with the State Grid Corporation of China as technical partners (the world's largest power company) and successfully purchased the 414MW Geregu Power Plant, located in Nigeria's Kogi State under the recent federal governmentled privatization programme in the power sector. Forte Oil is poised to carve a niche in the power generation sub-sector by using this as leverage for future opportunities as part of its commitment to bridge the current power deficit in Nigeria.”

‘Maersk tests water for Angola oil sale'

aersk Oil, a unit of Denmark's A.P. MollerMaersk A/S, is testing the water for the sale of a significant part of its stake in the deepwater Chissonga project in Angola, Danish daily, Jyllands Posten reported, citing sources familiar with the process. Maersk Oil was not immediately available for comment. Chissonga lies in 1,500 metres of water, making it an expensive deepwater oil development project. Oil companies can reduce stakes in such projects to share costs, although that also means sharing the eventual profits from production. Maersk Oil has a 65 percent stake in the block where Chissonga was discovered in 2009 with over 100 million barrels of oil. Chissonga, due to produce its first oil in 2017-18, is one of the key projects that will help the company increase oil production 50 percent by 2020. A.P. Moller-Maersk Chief Executive Nils Andersen had indicated in August that a sale could be on the cards, although not quite so soon. "We do have a high operating share in Angola and it could be natural to reduce that at a point in time," Andersen told an analysts' conference call for Maersk's second-quarter results

32 BUSINESS | ENERGY FORECAST OPEC's Secretary General, Abdallah Salem el-Badri, sees oil price rebounding by year-end

Adeola Yusuf

he Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said that no emergency meeting is being considered over the dwindling oil prices. The commodity price had crashed to 16 months low penultimate week but the Secretary General of OPEC, Abdallah Salem el-Badri, who said that he

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

OPEC forecloses emergency meeting over dwindling oil prices would not call for an emergency over the price, added that he expected oil prices to rebound by the end of the year. The Brent oil price—the most widely used international benchmark—fell below $100 a barrel this week and remained around $98 a barrel at the weekend. But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal at the group's headquarters in Vienna, the OPEC secretary-general said: "The price will come back." An emergency meeting of

the OPECs "isn't on our radar," el-Badri said. The remarks by the group's most authoritative voice, echoes similar views by top OPEC producers, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, last Thursday, which also said that they were unfazed by the drop in oil prices. el-Badri blamed the current price decline on seasonal factors. "I am not really worried," he said. "July and August aren't really good months to judge

the market because of refinery maintenance and other issues." OPEC's secretariat will reassess the market situation early October when demand normally strengthens seasonally. "We will look at the situation carefully beginning of October to see how the market behave," OPEC's secretary-general said. But el-Badri also suggested that oil prices would rebound mechanically if they were to fall further. "If the price was to come down, expensive produc-

tion would be out of the market," he said. The break-even price for US shale oil projects can typically rise to $80 a barrel, according the International Energy Agency. Overall, "the average price is still healthy" for this year, Mr. el-Badri said. As of August 30, the average annual price of OPEC's basket of crude oils remained at $104.8 a barrel, enough for the majority of its members to balance their budget.

Eland appoints new CEO, CFO

Port Harcourt refinery

TARGET The Mozambican gas-fired stations are currently producing 418 megawatts, which is expected to rise to 500

ozambican President, Armando Guebuza, has inaugurated the Maputo and Marracuene Natural Gas Distribution project, PDGM, which will make piped natural gas available for homes and industries in the capital city and nearby areas. Speaking at the gas pressure reduction station, Guebuza recalled that the government’s five-year plan for 3010-2014 envisaged making natural gas available for an ever larger number of citizens. With natural gas piped to their homes, reliance on bottles of cooking gas would become a thing of the past, he said. Mozambican President, Armando GuebuzaPDGM was “an example of the use by Mozambicans of their own natural resources”, he declared. “It shows that, with our resources, we can visualize the dawn of a new era of well-being.” Mozambican gas was the fuel of the future, not only for homes, but also for vehicles.

est Africa-focused Eland Oil & Gas has announced that it had promoted its chief financial officer, George Maxwell, to the role of chief executive officer. Maxwell, a founding director of Eland, was previously general manager for Addax Petroleum in Nigeria responsible for finance and the firm's fiscal and commercial activities. Current CEO Les Blair is to step down from the board and assume the new role of strategic advisor to the company with immediate effect. The role will be to promote the company within Nigeria and to undertake certain partner and government-related tasks on behalf of Eland, as well as support the CEO with specific strategic objectives. Eland is also appointing Louis Castro as its new CFO. Castro has been a director the company since August 2012 and has more than 25 years experience of investment banking with a focus on advising

natural resources firms. Eland Executive Chairman Harry Wilson commented in a company statement: "From inception of the company, George has demonstrated exceptional commercial judgement and I am pleased that he is stepping up to lead the company. Since joining the company two years ago, Louis has also proven his capability to become CFO. I believe that George and Louis will together form a strong team, which has the right blend of operational, commercial and financial experience to take the company to the next stage of its development. "The new in-country strategic advisor role recognizes our need to effectively liaise with our partners and government, and promote the company in Nigeria. Les will remain resident in Nigeria where he has an acknowledged presence and deep connections in Nigeria's oil and gas industry. He is particularly well placed to assume this important role."

osneft is reported to be among a trio of Russian state-owned oil players being targeted for fresh European Union sanctions that would hit their ability to raise funds in Western capital markets. The new measures would prevent oil giant Rosneft, Gazprom’s oil producing unit Gazprom Neft and pipeline operator Transneft from raising new bank loans in the EU of longer than 30 days’ maturity, according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The move is expected to be implemented today under a widening of existing sanctions imposed by the EU over Russia’s alleged provision of military backing for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. It would further constrain the ability of Rosneft to raise vital funding for upstream projects, with the state-owned oil company reported to be in line for a $40 billion-plus handoutfrom the Kremlin to tackle its financing challenges. The documents show the EU seeking to hit Russian oil companies, but leaving unscathed those such as state-

run Gazprom involved in gas production and export, which are critical to many European countries’ energy supplies. They also make some exceptions for exports destined for the Russian space and civilian nuclear industries. An EU diplomat told Reuters the sanctions would apply to companies with turnover of more than 1 trillion roubles ($26.95 billion), of which half is generated from the sale or transport of oil. The EU has already barred exports of technology and equipment to Russia for use in deep-water exploration and production, as well as exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in Arctic and onshore shale plays, under existing sanctions that have also hit the banking sector. The latest measures would bar new service contracts being signed in these three upstream areas, as well as further reduce the maximum loan term for five Russian state-controlled banks – including Sberbank and VTB Bank – to only 30 days from the existing limit of 90 days under current sanctions.

Mozambique: Guebuza inaugurates gas Rosneft faces ‘new cash sanctions’ distribution network R

Guebuza pointed out that a cubic metre of natural gas would allow a vehicle to cover a longer distance than a litre of petrol or diesel. Switching to gas would bring significant savings to individuals, households, companies and to the country as a whole. Guebuza said it would have a visible impact on Mozambique’s balance of payments. The gas comes from the deposits at Pande and Temane in Inhambane province. The South African petro-chemical giant Sasol treats the gas, and most of it is exported by pipeline to Sasol’s factories in the South African city of Secunda. But secondary pipelines are already supplying Mozambican industries in the Matola area (including the Mozal aluminium smelter), and gas-fired power stations at Ressano Garcia, on the border with South Africa. Currently, the main Mozambican use of the gas is for electricity generation. The gas-fired stations are currently producing 418 megawatts, and in 2015 this is expected to rise to 500

megawatts. The Maputo and Marracuene gas distribution network will run for 62 kilometres, and involved an investment of 38.2 million US dollars by the National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH), and its partner Kogas of South Korea. Work on the project began in April 2013, and it was inaugurated on time. ENH chairperson Nelson Ocuane told the Thursday ceremony that the first client was connected to the distribution network on 30 June. This was Autogas, the company that converts vehicles to run on gas. Its fuel pumps are now receiving 1,000 gigajoules of gas a month, equivalent to about 27,800 litres of liquid fuel. In the first month after the connection, Autogas supplied over a thousand vehicles running on natural gas. Another 10 consumers are now being linked to the pipelines, including the Maputo municipal bus company, EMTPM, and three hotels. Ocuane said: “we are working to find the best technical and financial options for the mass connection of domestic consumers.”

PROPERTY&ENVIRONMENT PAGE 33, Tuesday, September 16, 2014

DEFICIT Nigeria's housing gap has continued to increase Dayo Ayeyemi and Yusuf Shuaib

udging by the plethora of policies that have been rolled out in the past, Nigerians should have been the most housed in the world today. But despite various efforts of the past governments, thenation’s housing gap has continued to increase. In order to put in place a more incisive and cohesive strategic plan to tackle the challenges in the housing sector, major experts and other stakeholders who gathered lastweek in Abuja have no option than to validate a Draft Roadmap for the Housing and Urban Development The Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development (FMLHUD) has developed the 30-year roadmap, following the recent approval of the Integrated Infrastructure Master plan for the country. The validated roadmap is expected to be presented to the Economic Management and Implementation Team (EMIT) for their input and buy-in; and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for consideration and approval before its public presentation/launching. The two-day forum gave enough room for all stakeholders and partners as they were divided into four groups to take critical look at the draft document, made necessary adjustment and fashion best way for its implementation. The roadmap covers a period of 30 years. The document, entitled: “Final Draft of Nigeria Land, Housing and Urban Development Roadmap – Transforming Land Administration, Housing Delivery and Urban Development in Nigeria year 2014-2043,” defines the underlying philosophy for intervention by all actors in the sector. It also assesses the current situation, identifies where the sector ought to be and advances the set of actions required to reach the set targets. It has the objectives of being a vehicle for positioning lands, housing and urban development as one of the significant contributing sectors in the nation’s adopted national plan for transformation; and realizing the goals of the adopted legislation, policies and international development commitments. Strategic Goals The housing roadmap seeks to pursue nine strategic goals and ways to achieve them. The goals are to facilitate private sector led delivery of 800,000 homes per annum over the

Housing: Draft roadmap gets minister, stakeholders’ nod

L-R: Acting Managing Director, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), David Kpue; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ezekiel Oyemomi; Housing Minister, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi; Vice Chairman, New FESTAC Property Development Company Limited, Sir Isaac Chuks; Company Secretary, Chief Odein Ajumogobia; Director, New FESTAC, Dr. Sola Ayandele; and Managing Director, Mr. Goody Egbuji, during the concession agreement signing ceremony for FESTAC Phase II in Abuja .

next 10 years; facilitate the implementation of special housing programs to promote the delivery of 200,000 units per annum for the next 10 years; establish an information management system for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects; establish and enforce building standards based on the National Building Code to ensure quality, functionality, aesthetics and safety. Others include ways to make serviced land with secure tenure easily available, accessible and transferable and at an affordable price for housing development; build adequate capacity of professionals and artisans in the built environment; make cities and human settlement inclusive productive, safe, livable, resilient and sustainable; transform the way the FMLHUD is structured and operates as the industry regulator and facilitator; and promote research and development. The 30-year document sets short-term and long-term measurable achievements expected to be seen in land administration, housing delivery and urban development at the implementation of the strategic goals. The ministry is expected to champion the implementation of the roadmap by co-opting segments of the private sector as well as state ministries of land, housing and urban development and local government where appropriate.

The 30-year document sets short-term and long-term measurable achievements expected to be seen in land administration, housing delivery and urban development at the implementation of the strategic goals Minister’s presentation Speaking, the Minister of Lands, Urban and Housing Development, Mrs. Akon Eyankenyi, assured that the revalidated Draft Roadmap, once approved will provide the pathway for navigating through the housing and urban development sector over the next 30 years. Through the instrumentality of the roadmap, she pointed out that the culture of focusing almost exclusively on low-hanging fruits will be replaced with a new paradigm of action orientation, meticulous planning and well articulated programmes for enhanced performance and impactful

results towards repositioning the sector effectively. Going down the memory lane, the minister said the stakeholders’ validation of the roadmap followed the event that was laid in December 2011 in which two draft policies were approved for implementation by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in June 2012. She added that thereafter, a Ministerial Implementation Team (MIT) for housing delivery in Nigeria was constituted by the ministry to provide it with modalities for translating this into action. According to Eyakenyi, MIT recommended the development of a roadmap for the housing and urban development sector as a strategic tool to set a clear direction for the transformation of the industry with a view to achieving the envisaged targets and aspirations in both the short and long terms, as outlined in vision 20:2020, the Transformation Agenda and other emerging National Development Plans. She said: “In order to give effect to Mr. President’s vision following the presidential stakeholders retreat on housing and urban development held at the State House on November 12, 2012, a Ministerial Expert Group (MEG) was set up by the ministry in 2013, to develop a draft roadmap for the effectuation of the policy enunciations and other emerging sectorial plans of government under the chairmanship of Mr. Fortune

Ebie, an advocate of affordable mass housing in Nigeria”. Experts’ views Earlier in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Ezekiel Oyemomi , explained that the main objective of the roadmap, is to provide an appropriate framework to set up actions for the transformation of the housing and urban sector over the next 30 years (2014-2043), thereby ensuring diligent implementation of the National Housing and Urban Development Policies. “In line with the sustainable development of the sector, I enjoin all participants and critical committed stakeholders to bring their collective professional competences to bear on the document in other to revolutionize the housing and urban development sector in Nigeria,” Dr Oyemomi noted. Also speaking, President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Chief Olabode Afolayan, said: “The idea is a welcome development because at the end of the day, it is going to be a collective response towards achieving a common goal in the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerian citizens.” Afolayan argued that as soon as the validated draft roadmap is endorsed and sent to the Federal Executive Council and effected almost immediately, major stakeholders will begin to work towards its implementation.

property & ENVIRONMENT

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Developer targets shoppers with Purplestone PROFILING The company is currently profiling prospective applicants Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

he landscape of formal retail in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, has received a boost, no thanks to tPurplestone Mall's entry that is set to offer value products aimed at both middle and lower income customers. Located in the Apo area of the city, the coming of Purlestone Shopping mall is in response to yearnings by residents of the nation’s capital for a one-stop shop to cater for their basic needs. The mall, which sits on a 3000-square-metre of land, comes with 32 available lettable spaces. It parades adequate space provision for banks, pharmacies, and other social services facilities such as 24hour security services, water supply, cleaning of common areas, waste management and an ample parking space for 80 cars. Briefing newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, the Managing Director of Beverly and Sam Properties, owners of the mall, Lillian Agbakoba, said that the sole aim of constructing Purplestone Mall was to enable everybody, no matter his or her social status, have a place for

their shopping. According to her, Purplestone is 30 per cent cheaper than its competitor to ensure the ease of doing business. She said: “With the coming on board of Purplestone Shopping Mall, we are delivering a Maitama quality mall in Apo. We are putting up a Quality Cost Based System (QCBS) in the mall.” She disclosed that her company is exploring the possibility of extending its business frontiers by replicating Purplestone Mall

in some states, pointing out that 80 per cent of Nigerian cities do not have any shopping. The Beverly and Sam Properties boss said that for now, the company was engaging in ‘’Snagging’’ at the mall, which means it is trying to correct some things in order to bring out a world class facility. Besides, she said the company is presently profiling prospective applicants in order not to let out the facilities to people whose character or financial standing cannot sustain con-

tinuity when eventually the shops are allocated to them. Lettable space in the twostorey mall ranges between N21,000 and N25,000 per square metre. The breakdowns are as follow: Ground floor-N25, 000.00 per square metre, 1st floorN23, 000.00 per square metre while the second floor would go for N21, 000.00. Agbakoba added that the cost for the shops are exclusive of the service charge which she puts at N15, 000.00, saying

there would be a standby generator that is expected to run for nine hours daily. In a short remark, the Legal Adviser to the company, Olisa Agbakoba, said that he decided to take the brief for the company because of the uniqueness of the mall. According to him, the location of the mall in Apo is a big plus for those who would be patronising the place. He was quick to add, that most Nigerians are looking for places that are conducive to shop.

Model of Abuja’ Purplestone Mall

Urban regeneration: Lagos set to reconstruct Adeniji Adele Estate HOMEOWNERSHIP 59 people emerge landlords through mortgage scheme

s part of its urban renewal’s efforts, the Lagos State government has mapped out strategies to redevelop the Adeniji Adele Estate in Lagos. Disclosing this during the 7th edition of Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lag HOMS) draw in Ikeja, in

which 59 new homeowners emerged; the governor said that the redevelopment of Adeniji Adele Estate is on course, adding that its Bill of Quantities is ready. According to him, just the way some residents of Shogunro Estate in Ogba, about 16 of them, who were relocated and returned after the completion of the estate, 30 families in Adeniji Adele will be relocated during the rebuilding of their estate. The governor disclosed: “We have concluded the es-

Derelict Adeniji Adele Estate on Lagos Island

tate’s procurement while the award for its contract has been signed.” Fashola had earlier inspected the Adeniji-Adele Housing Estate in Central Lagos, announcing to the residents plans by his administration to commence the redevelopment of the estate to avoid loss of life as a result of the collapse of any of the building. Many houses in the estate built on a reclaimed land over 20 years ago, are noticeably in very bad conditions with many of the ground floors al-

ready submerged. The walls of most of the buildings have already cracked and showing signs of serious structural defect. Meanwhile, 59 homeowners have emerged at the Seventh Draw of the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS). Some of the new homeowners expressed joy when they were called out among many other subscribers after the draw. Commenting on the scheme, Governor Fashola, said it was affordable, while the mortgage scheme took beneficiaries away from the cash-and-carry syndrome, which requires people to pay for homes at once. He added that the difficulties facing Nigerians in getting homes explained why the government intervened on rent control and management, adding that the legislation passed by the government to that effect barred home owners from taking more than a year’s rent. Fashola noted that the practice of asking people who get their salaries on monthly basis to pay three years rent in advance is simply about the people hurting themselves. He said: “Nobody gets salary in advance that I know. But in this society, we have pretended as if all is well, people bring that money. But you know that for them to get that

money, something has moved somewhere. There would be an accounting failure at the end.” He reiterated that if Nigerians continued to accept three years rent or four years rent, the person paying it must have simply compromised somewhere, which means corruption was being embedded. The governor, who congratulated the winners, reminded them that two important items made the experience possible for them, which was that they have been tax compliant and that it was their votes that enthroned the administration in office. The Executive Secretary of the Lagos Mortgage Board, Mr. Kojo Sagoe, said 121 people were successfully prequalified for the September draws out of the 139 people who applied for the nine schemes available. He added that since the commencement of the monthly draws, a total of 273 new homeowners have collected keys and taken possession of their new homes. Dignitaries at the event included the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire; Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi; Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje; the Chairman of the Lagos HOMS Committee and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Supo Shasore, and other dignitaries.

property & ENVIRONMENT

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Grenadines engages firms to deliver Abuja Estate Pledge Company pledges not to compromise quality and deliver project at agreed time Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

n order to ensure speedy delivery of the Abuja Estate, Grenadines Homes Limited, a property developing company, has handed over its latest estate site in Abuja, the nation’s capital, to two reputable companies Cubic Contractors and CPMS, to construct and manage the

project respectively. To the company, this is another bold move towards boosting homeownership in Nigeria with the formal commencement of the process for the construction of a new set of homes at Katape area of Abuja. When completed, the homes would serve as a major solution in meeting the growing demand of Nigerians who are desirous of descent shelter as well as the need to escape the rent trap. Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Managing Director, Grenadines Homes Limited, Mrs. Noimot Olatunji, said the 25-unit luxurious

estate was the latest addition to the growing list of home ownership initiatives, which the company has launched over the years. She said that ºthe Abuja estate aligned with the vision of the company in empowering Nigerians to meet one of the critical components in man’s hierarchy of needs in particular shelter. “Shelter is one of the most important things every man, women of family thinks first after food. This project is therefore strategic because it speaks to that critical need in the life of every human being. We are convinced that the launch of this new estate

A model of Grenadines' Citiview Estate in Arepo

would afford prospective home owners great opportunity to own their own homes more so in an enchanting neighbourhood a little removed from the hustle and bustle of the city centre of the FCT,” Olatunji said. She added that Grenadines Resort Katampe, Abuja would boast of well finished and furnished terrace duplexes and complimentary amenities that make bold statement about luxury living. On his part, the Construction Manager, Cubic Contractors Limited, Mr Majid Mulani, said his firm was pleased to be part of the project, assuring that the company would bring its experience to bear in ensuring excellent service delivery across all the phases of the project. He further assured prospective owners that the company would deliver the houses as well as maintain best global practices from the beginning to the end of the project. Also speaking, the Project General Manager, CPMS, Mrs. Nike Lanre-Ladenegan, said as the project manager, the company would ensure the delivery of a quality estate at the agreed duration of the project. She stated that the firm was knowledgeable in all aspects of building construction while assuring that CPMS would coordinate the activities of all parties involved in the construction process to ensure a effective synergy and timely

Gateway-Sparklight Estate gets medical clinic H ealth, they say is wealth. This popular phrase is already finding fulfillment in the exquisite Gateway-Sparklight Estate on the LagosIbadan Expressway, Magboro, Ogun State, as the residents will begin to enjoy unlimited access to Medicare. This is made possible by the Chairman of Sparklight Group, Chief Toyin Adeyinka, in collaboration with his friends, who considered the need to bring quality modern medical clinic close to the residents. Known as ‘Tripple A Medical Clinic,’ it is located in the centre of the estate with all necessary facilities for operations. Chairman, Board of Director of the clinic, Dr. Oladapo Amosun, a US-based medical doctor, disclosed what led to the establishment of the hospital, describing the health facility as a way of giving back to the society. He said that the journey towards establishing the clinic started a few years ago when he called his colleagues in the United States of America on the need to bring medicare close to Nigerians. “The worry about people at home (Nigeria) made me called my colleagues to come

together so that they can establish something, no matter how small, for the people with health challenge at home,” he said. He promised the residents that his colleagues would always be around to attend to their medical needs since they are into different specialties. According to Amosun, the health facility would not have been made possible if not for the support received from Sparklight’s chairman, Chief Adeyinka.

Amosun assured that he is planning to buy a property in the estate so that, “when I am around, if anything happens, I want somebody to assist me within the estate and not until I get to the general hospital in Ikeja.” He said: “Medical care does not start when you are ill, it is a continuous thing. To the residents, this facility is for you, please support it.” Another doctor, Dayo Oduwole, who represents the special guest at the occasion, said

Block of flats in Sparklight Estate, Magboro, Ogun State

he was happy to be part of the beginning of a landmark to the nation as a whole. Justifying the importance of citing the clinic in the estate, he stated the health indices is what will be used to access the health of the community, lamenting the low life expectancy of Nigerians. The Clinic’s Residence Doctor , Olurotimi Awojobi, assured residents that the facility will be opened 24 hours daily, adding that more special services will come.

delivery of the houses. ‘‘We will ensure that quality is not compromised. This project will be delivered at the agreed time,’’ she said. Grenadines Homes Limited and its other member-companies in particular Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited is built on the tripod of innovation, trust and exceeding customer care. They have gained clients' trust and achieved international recognition and credibility by exceeding the expectations of their diverse stakeholders in providing qualitative real estate services across various socio-economic classes of clients.

Office space market progresses in Lagos

ffice space market has conONigeria's tinued to improve in most cities such as Lagos,

Port Harcourt and Abuja, no thanks to new projects springing up in these capitals. In Lagos for example, investors are showing greater interest in office space in locations such as Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikoyi. Already, according to the monthly report of the Financial Derivative Company (FDC), over 30 office spaces are available on Admiralty way in Lekki, including a new mini mall dubbed ‘Waterview mall’ Also, there are two office complexes under construction at Ologun Agbaje and Elsie Femi Pearce in Victoria Island. All these developments are testimonies to a renewed confidence in the Nigeria housing market by investors. The report from FDC also noted that new flats are springing up on Admiralty way just to take advantage of LekkiIkoyi Toll Bridge. Meanwhile, the initial supply glut in the housing market is leading to rent adjustment in the metropolis. Also the real estate in Lekki is suffering from excess supply, while commercial vacancy factor in the location is up at 35 per cent and residential vacancy factor up at 16 per cent. There is slight decline in residential vacancy factor in Victoria Island to 23 per cent in August, while the commercial is 12 per cent. There is also slight decline in residential vacancy factor in Ikoyi in August 2014 compared to July. This condition is expected to deteriorate in October due to Ebola, according to the FDC monthly report. Vacancy factor is higher in residential flats in Victoria Island, while there is higher vacancy factor in residential flats over houses due to construction activities.

36 property & ENVIRONMENT

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Forum warns against health hazards of PCBs INVENTORY Company embarks on inventory in 15 states Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

orried by the high rate of environmental degradation of the environment, stakeholders who gathered at the weekend have warned against the health hazards of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, popularly known as PCBs. PCBs is commonly used as oil in running the transformers commonly called transformer oils. But unknown to many, health hazards from PCBs include lower birth weight, low verbal Intelligent Quotients (IQ)/ impaired visual recognition in children of contaminated mothers. Besides, it suppresses the immune system, affects the thyroid hormone levels, which is critical for normal growth and development, affects liver, skin and reproductive system among others. It is a common knowledge that the transformer oil consists of a synthetic compound that serves as additives to insulating fluids where they act as coolants to transformers and capacitors. The compounds are also used as plasticisers in the paints and cement, for coating water tanks/bridges, as stabilising additives in flexible PVC coatings of electricity wiring and electronic components; as pesticides extenders; cutting oils; as reactive flame retardants; lubricating oils; additives for wood floor finishes, paints and hydraulic fluids among others. Although its use as transformer oil had been banned since 1979 with the importation

of PCBs free oils for transformer use in the country way back 1980, there are still quanta of the compounds particularly in old transformers. It was against this background that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank and with counterpart funding from the Federal Government in February 2012 approved a four-year Nigeria Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Management project The development and global environment objective of the project is to strengthen national capacity for management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and in particular, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) as required under the Stockholm Convention on POPs. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), commonly found in transformer oils, are a class of compounds originally manufactured in 1881. Owing to their toxicity characteristics and classification as POPs, their production was banned globally in the early 1980s. They are one of the 21 classes of POPs, which, due to their damaging effects on human health and the environment, are targeted for elimination by the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent organic Pollutants. Arguably, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is by far the largest consumer of dielectric fluids and major owner of equipment that potentially contain PCBs. Others are cement industries, paints, carbonless copy papers, refineries and private electrical generators among others. In his presentation on: ‘What PCBs are, their health and environmental impact’, General Manager, Health, Safety and Environment, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mr Olisa

Okoli, an engineer, said PCBs are being used in the areas mentioned because they have very high dielectric constants that can withstand very high voltage values without breaking. According to him, the substance can withstand high thermal conductivity; very effective as an arc/flame quencher-thereby protecting circuit breakers and transformers; extremely resistant to oxidation, reduction, addition, elimination and electrophilic substation coupled with high density between 1.1821.566kg/lit. On environmental transport and transformation, he noted that because of their low vapour pressure, PCB’s accumulate primarily in the hydrosphere- main reservoir, organic fraction of

soil and water bodies. Representative of the project team, Mr. Yusuf Babatunde, disclosed that the team has embarked on inventory in 15 states including Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Delta, Abia, Enugu, Kano, Rivers, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, among others. He explained that while the project covers 15 states of the federation, the government is expected to cover the remaining states as a way of sustaining the programme which is currently domiciled at the Federal Ministry of Environment. Managing Director of Oji Environmental Services, Mr Christiana Ihenache, disclosed that a national policy on management of PCBs has been developed by the Ministry of

Justice and that the document is to be sent to the Executive for approval. Ihenache stated that the concern about PCBs is the widespread use that has resulted in improper disposal methods, which are conducted without environmental considerations due to lack of awareness of hazardous nature of PCBs He said the significant environmental contamination resulted from industrial and commercial formulations and use of PCBs and that the two important routes of entry into the environment are during the process of manufacturing chemicals as by-product and leakages from electrical equipment and other devices containing PCBs.

A transformer

ATI graduates craftsmen, technicians for construction sector BOOST This is to build capacity of workers for optimal production

he construction industry further received a boost at the weekend as one of the foremost privately-owned skills acquisition centres, Adeyemi Training Institute, (ATI) graduated 16 young men in four of its departments. The young men were trained in the skills of building construction, plumbing, furnishing/carpentry and welding/steel fabrication. The training become necessary in order to reverse the trend of dearth of professional craftsmen and technicians in the construction industry. Besides, the training comes as a form of empowerment to the youths for them to be selfreliant. Located in Lapeleke community, Itori in Ewekoro Lo-

cal Government Area of Ogun State, ATI, a non-fee paying school, was established in 2010. The graduation ceremony was the second since the institute was founded, and the management has increased the number of students’ intake from the present 20 to 60 due to popular demand. Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the Proprietor/ Chairman, Board of Trustee of the institute, Chief Toyin Adeyinka, an engineer, noted that the vocation school was set up with the view of training the less privileged youths in the society. According to him, the program is a two-year course, which involves both theoretical and practical training with great emphasis on practical hand-on experience as it awards its own diploma and also prepares students for external NABTEB examination. Besides, he said: “Adeyinka Technical Institute promotes the dignity of labour, with

emphasis on hard work. The students are trained in a manner to apply technical skill in achieving designed objectives. The affiliation of the school with a construction company and other industrial companies has made the actualization of our objectives less cumbersome. “Students are encouraged to do manual labour works to earn monthly wages, to support their up keep while in school. It is a full boarding system open only to indigent youths from every part of the country.” Adeyinka disclosed that the Board had approved additional two courses to the school programme, which include auto mechanic and electrical installation. In addition, he hinted that 40 students would be admitted into the boarding school while 20 will be day student. Adeyinka, who is also the Chairman of Sparklight Group, admonished the graduating

students to be good ambassadors of the school and apply all they have learnt diligently. He urged them to uphold the ethics of the profession in contributing to the development of themselves, folks and the nation at large. He said: “Our leaders must give opportunities necessary for these ones to develop the experience by allowing them to build our roads, bridges, dams, power plants, cars and even bombs; otherwise we will continue to remain perpetually enslaved technologically and financially to the developed nation.” On the newly introduced courses, he explained that they pose serious financial challenge to the management. “We believe that institutions and individuals who share our vision will continue to support the school in achieving its objective. It is my candid believe that the mustard seed that has been sown will one day metamorphose into a renowned

Technical Institute,.” he said Guest Speaker and Publisher of Anchor Newspaper, Mr. Adewale Adeeyo, who delivered a paper on: ‘The Heights of Basic Technical Training’, noted that unlike others in some developed economies, the Nigerian youth has more or less been left to his own devices. He said the educational system has become a joke while everyone wants to wield a certificate, even if almost everyone too does not care about the sound training that should certify that certificate. Adeeyo charged the students to remain noble and diligent, honest and fair in all their dealings. Commissioner for Local Government and former Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Mr. Muyiwa Oladipo, said no meaningful national development can be achieve without sound technical training programme, urging the school authority to include female intake in the set.

Fuel shortage a challenge for airlines –Munetsi p–38

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

BUSINESS 37

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Are states building ‘ghost’ airports? TRAFFIC Airlines prefer to go to airports in cities like Lagos, Abuja, PortHarcourt or Owerri where they can get traffic Wole Shadare

here are several airports built by state governments that are fast turning to ‘closed’ airports described in the airline business as ghost airports. During the last 15 years, more airports are opening in Nigeria. Some whose revenues are barely enough to sustain them are opening up airports that have become dormant. They seem not to know that running an airport is a huge expense even for the largest of countries. Low passenger traffic Unless there is sufficient passenger traffic for local, regional and international traffic no one can afford to run such loss making projects. In Nigeria, there are 23 airports. The latest is the one built by the Adamawa state government; a multi-billion naira ‘investment’. The Federal Government has put in over N200 billion to bail out the country’s airlines in the past five years but that has not solved the insolvency of these airlines which lifespan is less than ten years. If such a loss can be made year on year by the airlines, just how much can you expect to lose from an ‘international’ airport? Most airports in the

country are designated ‘international’ even when there is nothing international about them. Losses We can look forward to a year on year loss of at least $200 million a year or likely many times that amount. We struggle with a debt burden that the government has lumbered us with, approaching one and a half billion dollars and we will be paying that back for the next 50 years. Add that to the operational losses and ask yourself; what chance do we stand of getting ourselves out of the woods? Just recently, Nigerians were told that there were many countries that would pay for the airport construction of three ‘brand new’ terminals in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. Experts told New Telegraph that for whatever reason, the people, our children and their children will be paying for this project long after we are all dead and buried. Appeal to airlines Nigeria has been trying to push its airlines to fly to remote areas by simply appealing to them to fly to such locations. The airlines have baulked at this on the grounds that they lose money on such flights. Save for Arik and Overland which tried to service many destinations, other carriers have only concentrated their operation on just few of the airports, citing low passenger traffic.

Experts’ advice Speaking in the same vein, a former spokesman for airline operators, Mohammed Tukur said, “If you travel regularly by air across Nigeria’s major cities, especially through the local and international wings of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA), Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, you are likely to assume that volume of air travellers you see at these airports is a perfect representation of traffic at all the other airports around the country.” He stated that currently, there are 22 airports under the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), stressing that out of these 22, four are viable, nine are semi-active and the rest (also nine in number) are dormant in terms of revenue and traffic generation. Classification The four viable airports are the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA) Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe In-

Today, the airport looks very unfriendly with inbound and outbound passengers trekking a distance with their luggage on their heads

ternational Airport, Abuja; Port-Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano. Those termed semi-active include those in Benin, Calabar, Enugu, Jos, Owerri, Ilorin, Asaba, Maiduguri and Osubi while the dormant airports include those in Minna, Makurdi, Akure, Ibadan, Bauchi, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna and Yola. In fact, it is no longer news that some of these airports are no longer viable as little or no flights are connected to them. Tukur stated that airlines prefer to go to airports in cities like Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt or Owerri where they can get traffic, adding that some of these airports either have one scheduled operation in a day or no flight at all. “For instance, only Arik Air operates daily flights into Yola and Makurdi currently. It is instructive to note that before the advent of Nigeria's current democracy; there were no commercial activities in some of these airports.” A recent report compiled by Accenture lamented that despite the fact that three of them (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt) generate much money, only a little development can be witnessed there. Revenue generation The three aerodromes generate more than 70 percent of domestic and international traffic. All three airports are currently handling more passenger traffic than they were originally designed for. Analysts are of the opinion

that nothing can be done by government to improve the lot of airports except to leave them in the hands of private operators or reduce landing cost into them. According to an expert in airport security, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), those airports should be handed over to state governments or private investors for results. He noted that for instance, FAAN's level of personnel at dormant airports like Akure, Ibadan, Ilorin, Minna, Kaduna etc generally can't be more than 50 for mainly security officers and commercial whose average salary can’t be more than N50,000. He added that Airspace Management Agency too will have same level of personnel; mainly Air traffic controllers and others probably less or not more than 10 and whose average salary can't be more than N50, 000 too. The Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos The Murtala Muhammed Airport which was built in 1976 was one of the iconic structures in the country then. It was modeled after Schipol Airport, Amsterdam. While the later has undergone structural changes to meet the yearnings of millions of passengers that make use of the facilities, the former is an eye sore. Despite the billions of naira pumped into remodeling, not much has been done to boost the image of the over 35 years facilities. Passengers facilitation is one hell of a process inside the area. Security is equally C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 8

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Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Fuel shortage a challenge for airlines –Munetsi One of the three biggest airlines in Africa is South African Airlines. The carrier, which is back to profitability, has gone through so many transformations that threatened its existence. Just recently, its Regional General Manager, Africa and Middle East, Mr Aaron Munetsi, spoke with Aviation Editor, WOLE SHADARE, and unfolded the airline’s plans to help Nigeria airlines, engagement of 500 pilots. He also spoke on skyrocketing price of aviation fuel, challenges of the airlines and other myriads of problems bedevilling the continent’s aviation industry. Excerpts What is your assessment of the aviation industry in Nigeria? SAA has been operating into Nigeria since 1998 and we are 16 years already. Up until 2009, we had four flights and in 2009 we moved our flights to daily. This simply shows you that we have so much faith in the travelling industry in Nigeria because we have seen growth and we are also proven that it is right for us to frequently want to increase our frequencies and for us to provide more capacity into the market in order to meet the demands. Yes, there is a constant growth in the market when it comes to travel and we are very optimistic about the Nigerian market. Any plans to assist Nigerian airlines with the huge number of unemployed pilots. About 500 of them are jobless? This is a very interesting question, but I want to speak as an African who has been given the African mandate. So, we cannot sleep peacefully in our house when the next-door neighbour has nothing to eat. We will do everything possible to make sure Nigerian pilots, as long as they meet the requirements of recruitment as our pilots programme is concerned and they qualified, are considered for jobs in our establishment. I just came out of a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week, and we were addressed by the Regional Vice President of Boeing Aircraft Manufacturing Company and in his address to us, he mentioned that there is an estimated requirement for 1,330 aircraft that are going to be required for all of Africa countries and by the nature of those aircraft being acquired by African carriers, we are going to need 18,000 pilots and 12,000 technicians. There is no border to where these pilots and technicians are going to come from. The only requirement is that they must be trained to the standards that are required by the aircraft manufacturers. And remember, this is only from a Boeing point of view. Airbus Aircraft Manufacturing Company has got its own calculations; very soon, they are going to announce their own understanding of how many aircraft that would be required in the continent. The same thing will happen with Embraer, Bombardier and others. So, there is a huge demand for qualified technical skills like pilots, technicians and others. If you think about it, all of us as African airlines have suffered from what we called a brain drain, but I’m so happy when I hear about this because from the brain drain, we have capped it to a brain gain. Those people that have gone out have the experience and became expatriates wherever they have been, they are now coming back home. They are coming back with their experiences and expertise. So, we need to take those things into consideration when we do our developmental purposes. So, I believe that even for South Africa, whether we like it or not, we have no enough technical people to fulfil the requirements of our jobs. Nigeria itself will also not have enough. So, we will need to have thinking across the board in the continent to address these requirements for these technical staff. Why do you think foreign carriers do not want to partner with Nigerian airlines? This is a very involved question, but let us starts with the fundamentals. What is the philosophy of the local

partner and what is the philosophy of the South African Airways? Do these two philosophies have any form of convergence where we can say we are beginning to talk about the same thing even if we are talking about different things at different levels? So, a local partner or a local airline might be saying their philosophy is to do domestic first. There are only three things that any airline would give you - schedule, the network and the capacity. So, if the local partner says ‘we want to focus our operations on the local services,’ they will not worry when the customer arrives in Lagos and his connectivity out of Nigeria to elsewhere. All their focus is only from Point A to Point B. So that is the first thing on their minds. We at South African Airways, our philosophy is a network carrier; we are least worried about a customer who is just travelling from one point to another. We are more concerned about a customer who uses our entire network. So, when we are here, I want my team to go to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to convince them that they would take them from Lagos and put them in areas as far as Sao Paolo, Brazil, in just one flight because that is what the network is all about. That is our philosophy. We need to find somebody here who also understands the philosophy that says they are not just serving Lagos to Abuja or vice versa, they are serving Abuja from Lagos to destinations beyond. South African Airways joined alliances like the Star Alliance because we on our own at SAA, we were doing an average of 180 flights daily and the moment we joined the Star Alliance, we are doing an average of 4,000 flights daily simply because somebody who is sitting in a far country and does not see the SAA flight, suddenly sees the bird that says this is flying from Sao Paolo, Miami, Johannesburg, Senegal and others on South African Airways. This is possible simply because of our Star Alliance. Now, we have been able to marry that alliance with our philosophy to another one. Even, when you talk about MRO, it has to be the same philosophy to say you can’t be focusing on servicing your Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier aircraft only. You must be able to say we are providing a world-class facility. In that service, components for example like the landing gears, and others, whatever that comes into your facility must be serviced through the specification of the aircraft manufacturer irrespective of where the aircraft is going to. Then, for me, the most important thing is the philosophy, which also drives us through our business plans and processes. Have you ever wondered why AirFrance is probably the only airline from Europe that flies into probably all the countries in West Africa and especially in the francophone countries? And the indigenous airlines from those countries, whenever they start a new airline, before they even do the domestic sector, they want to go to Paris and that is how they failed. They have to understand the philosophy that says ‘what are you going to do?’ Will SAA one day establish maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in Nigeria considering your popularity in the country? You will be delighted to hear that we have a technical team from our technical department that is focusing specifically on Nigeria. What we established in the West African hub, it takes a much more evolved process, but establishing a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility is faster. So, they have been here and they are already doing work on the ground to see how best they can evaluate and quickly come up with a decision to say ‘how do we start an MRO in Nigeria?’

The Nigerian market is vibrant, dynamic, very demanding, complicated, sophisticated, rewarding and more than anything else, it is an enjoyable market for us at SAA

Munetsi

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is eating deep in some West African countries and SAA is one of the carriers that fly into some of these destinations. What safety measures have been put in place to ensure that your carrier operate to the recommended safety standards? Indeed, there is an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in some countries in West Africa, our deepest sympathy and heart goes to those countries and the people who have lost their lives as a result of the outbreak. South African Airways is not online to any of these countries that have this major outbreak; Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, we have connecting passengers from any of those countries, so, the point of stopping or not stopping flights to those countries does not arise in our case. In the case of Nigeria, we have a situation where Ebola has been recorded, but the outbreak is being very well contained by the Nigerian government and it has not spread too much and we have made a business decision to continue to fly into Nigeria and service it. Our staff have been trained to be able to identify and evaluate a situation where we have maybe a sick passenger that is boarding our flights so as not to be able to transmit the virus when he gets to any country that we fly into and not only South Africa, but the entire network is at risk if we do not look carefully as to whether the passenger is ill when he or she is about to board any of our flights. Our passengers’ manuals have been updated to be able to tell staff what to do in case of any contagious disease in any city. Basically, what you will see if you fly in any of our flights out of Nigeria right now is that most of our staff that have direct contacts with passengers now have to wear gloves when they relate with passengers and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has also put measures to be able to contain the virus. So, our staff are well-trained to be able to report to us, identify when there are sick people that are about to board the flights. Basically, the way the Nigerian government has gone to contain the virus has been very remarkable and the Lagos State government particularly has done extremely well doing this. Practically, everyone knows what the symptoms of Ebola are - fever, coughing, diarrhoea and others. So, you can easily identify if any of the passengers on board is suffering from any of these illnesses and possibly put them aside. Through this, you will be able to ask a lot of questions and test them at random and through that way, we have been able to secure and ensure that we fly very safely. Also, are there plans by SAA to have multiple entries into Nigeria in the future? This will be determined by demands and we as an airline, we are ready to evolve along with our customers. So, it is not out of the cards, everything is possible in the business. C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 0

BUSINESS | AVIATION

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

‘NAHCO’ll be a good partner in agro' export The FTZ allows Nigeria’s agro-allied products to be exported to Europe and America Stories by Wole Shadare

he Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, has said that the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NACHO Aviance) would be a great partner in the Federal Government’s agrobased export programme. Speaking when the Board of the Company led by its Chairman, Mallam Suleiman Yahyah, paid him a courtesy call in his Abuja office, Chidoka

said that with the capacity and efficiency of the Cargo handling company, government could be rest assured that the expected agricultural output would be well taken care of in terms of export capabilities. Promising to contact his counterpart in the Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, to see how the Agric Ministry and NAHCO can work together, Chidoka pledged to bring the two sides together to facilitate a partnership that would work well for the development of the country’s economy. Chidoka said that there is much to be done to improve the cargo industry in Nigeria, commending NAHCO Aviance for leading the improvement path.

The minister wondered why the country does not have an air cargo system that moves fresh food stuffs from one part of the country to the other same day when the foodstuffs and fruits are still very fresh. “Why can’t tomatoes be moved by air from Yola to Lagos,” he asked, adding that these are the kinds of things the aviation sector should be able to accomplish. He also envisaged a situation where the agro sector would be able to join hands with NAHCO in maximizing the opportunities that exist in the implementation of the company’s free trade zone (FTZ) licence. The way it is being implemented, NAHCO’s FTZ allows for importation and exporta-

tion of goods in a kind of borderless environment. The FTZ allows Nigeria’s agro-allied products to be exported to Europe and America with Lagos serving as the regional hub in the process. Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of NAHCO Aviance had told the minister that the aviation handling company plans to invest well in excess of $500 million in the development of its FTZ in the next five years. He pointed out that with the collaboration of government and NAHCO in the exportation of agro products, millions of employment would be created with many direct and indirect benefits to Nigerians. He assured the minister that NAHCO Aviance is ready to assist the minister in the task of moving the aviation sector forward. While restating that govern-

ment does not have to involve itself in running businesses, Chidoka assures that the infrastructure and the enabling environment would be provided to afford operators optimize their capabilities and efficiencies. The minister thanked the NAHCO’s team for coming adding that he hoped this would be the beginning of further engagement in his efforts to move the aviation sector forward. On the NAHCO Aviance team was the MD/CEO of the company, Mr Kayode Oluwasegun-Ojo; the Executive Director, Operations, Mr Norbert Bielderman and Director, Arc. Usman Arabi Bello. Also on the team was Dr. Umar Faruk, Director; Tijani Ahmed-Uwais, Director and the Manager, Governance and Stakeholders Relations, Uche Maurice Maduemesi.

Dana appointed A’Ibom summit official partner ana Air which recently port development through its re-commenced scheduled concerted efforts as reviewing Dflight operations to Uyo, the and introducing capacity to

Air France new seats

Manager decries running PH Airport on generator

he high cost of running generating sets to provide electricity for the Port International Harcourt Airport (PHIA) is now a source of worry to the management of the airport. Most of the airports in Nigeria are not connected to the national grid. The agency spends enormous amount of money running into over N1 billion on diesels, Premium Motor Spirit to generate electricity. General Manager, SouthSouth/South-East, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) Mrs Ebele Okoye, has disclosed that a total of 4 trucks of 33, 000 litres each of diesel were used monthly to power generating plants at the airport. According to her, the absence of reliable public power source has led to the airport depending 100 per cent on gen-

erating plants which has left the airport with little or no resources to run the airport especially with the high cost of diesel. She explained that the airport depended solely on secondary power source as against the primary source of power. On cargo development, she announced that the management of the airport was embarking on home delivery of cargo in conjunction with an independent company adding that cargo has not been fully utilized. Mrs Okoye said that as part of the airports means of generating revenue, a new toll gate would soon be erected in conjunction with the Rivers State government with terms of agreement. She noted that funding has been the greatest challenge in the day to day running of

the airport, urging airline operators and passengers to bear with them as a result of the on-going work at the airport, adding that it will be in their benefit at the end of the exercise.

Akwa Ibom State capital, has been designated as the “official partner airline” of the 1st Akwa Ibom State Tourism Summit 2014 scheduled for September 17 and 18, 2014, at the Ibom e-library. The Akwa Ibom Tourism Summit, first of its kind, seeks to develop historic sites within the state as well as showcase the rich cultural and tourism potentials that are located across the state. Also, the summit will further project Akwa Ibom to occupy a place of pride in the global tourist map by attracting visitors from within and outside Nigeria to experience the unique tourists’ attractions bequeathed by nature in Uyo and its environs. Dana Air will, by virtue of its designation, offer convenient means of transportation to all expected guests with online fares starting from N9,000. The partnership is a further re-affirmation of Dana’s commitment towards an accelerated tourism development in Nigeria as the airline has been in the vanguard of air trans-

better serve the market. Speaking on the potentials of the summit, the Chief Commercial Officer of Dana Air, Mr Obi Mbanuzuo said: “accessibility and tourism are synonymous and the designation of Dana as the official airline partner of the maiden edition of the summit will further accelerate pace of growth so far recorded in the state especially the commendable global recognition that some historic sites and monuments have achieved under the current administration”. Mbanuzuo further noted that Akwa Ibom has served as a remarkable symbol of unity and pride and Dana Air will continue to provide reliable and convenient means of transport to guests across its existing route network within Nigeria. Speaking in same vein, the Project Organiser, Joseph Utin noted that Uyo is ready to host the tourism world and the appointment of Dana Air is sequel to the interest of the airline to genuinely partner with the authorities to grow domestic tourism potentials.

States building ‘ghost’ airports? C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 3 7

Jonathan

suspect in the area as the area terminal serves more of just going through airport process than the comfort travellers crave for. The Duty Free shops are houses some of the the world’s smallest duty-free shop. It is Nigeria’s busiest airport with largest passenger traffic and one which revenue is used to service several others dormant aerodromes. Today, the airport looks very unfriendly with inbound and

outbound passengers trekking a distance with their luggage on their heads. Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) The remodeling of the airport ought to open it to floodgate of patronage and not the other way round. The low level passengers’ traffic into the airport can be traced easily to the security situation in Kano, fuelled by the activities of the fundamentalist Islamic group, Boko Haram.

BUSINESS | AVIATION

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Chidoka charges airport managers on performance PRODUCTIVITY Performance will henceforth be based on productivity

lenged the managers to be IT-compliant and improve on their communication lines for greater productivity.

Directors from the ministry and the MD of FAAN, Saleh Dunoma, were also at the interactive session.

Stories by Wole Shadare

irport Managers have been charged to improve on their performance as mechanism is being put in place to measure their performance on the job. The Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, said this in Abuja at a parley with regional general managers, airport managers and terminal managers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). According to Chidoka, performance would henceforth be evaluated for greater output and productivity, stressing that “we will monitor, measure and improve to achieve the goal of making us commit to what we want to achieve.” Earlier, the minister had engaged project consultants who briefed him on the on-going airport projects with updates on each project. The parley, which was attended by airport managers of 30 airports across the country was also graced by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Mr Yemi Adelakun, who chal-

pledged to A10 irliftperFrance-KLM core earnings by up to cent a year until 2017

as part of a new strategic plan combining an assault on the European leisure market with efforts to improve its appeal to long-haul passengers. Facing a double threat from European low-cost rivals and fast-growing long-haul carriers in the Gulf, Air FranceKLM said the new 'PERFORM 2020' package would include a mixture of restructuring and new investment. It comes on top of its Transform 2015 turnaround plan, which the airline group said was on course to deliver more than ¤1 billion ($1.29 billion) in savings. The new plan calls for fur-

ther reductions in unit costs of 1 to 1.5 per cent a year, maintaining the average pace of cuts in 2012 to 2014, according to slides presented to investors. Despite delivering on previous targets, Air France-KLM says more belt-tightening is needed to confront low-cost rivals easyJet and Ryanair in Europe, while trying to compete against fast-growing Gulf carriers on longer routes. Air France-KLM said it would invest in improved products and services for long-haul networks and boost the performance of its hubs, while revamping its short- and medium-haul operations and expanding its low-cost unit, Transavia.

Heathrow, Gatwick Airports have busiest month ever UK’s two biggest air- list of two options at Heathrow, Tandhe ports, London’s Heathrow to the west of London, and one Gatwick, both reported at Gatwick, to the south.

Chidoka

Air Peace gets Air Operators’ certificate

he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has issued an Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC), to a new entrant, Air Peace, having met the statutory requirement to run scheduled operations. This is coming just as the NCAA also said that it now has powers to sack any staff of any airline that is involved in dangerous operations. Dangerous operations involve any act that constitute threat to safety, be they pilots and aircraft engineers. Meanwhile, sixteen other airlines are expected to commence operations between now and 2015. With the issuance of the air operators’ certificate, Air Peace would join other airlines for domestic flight operations. The issuance of AOC to Air Peace brings to three the number of new airlines that the NCAA has issued licenses. Speaking at the event, the acting Director General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, explained that the airline was given the licence after its management team met all the requirements in record time ahead of commencement of operations. He said that the airline demonstrated capacity with its team of indigenous professionals, which have been well trained to run the business.

Air France-KLM sees rise in profit

He urged Air Peace to ensure it adheres to all safety and technical regulations to run a successful airline, as the NCAA will not hesitate to sanction airlines that violate safety regulations. According to him, “the NCAA now has power to sack people in any airline, if the staff is found to be dangerous to safety. Whether they are pilots or engineers, we would pull them out. NCAA will go after airlines that are not doing well. That is our commitment to safety.” Adeyileka said that NCAA was impressed with the quality of aircraft, and spare parts that it has acquired ahead of the commencement of operations. He urged Air Peace to ensure issues of staff training, aircraft maintenance and crew matters are settled to achieve the growth and development of the industry. The acting DG said that the reason why NCAA would go after errant operators is to ensure safety of operations. He described the foundation laid by Air Peace as very solid, with structures put in place for the maintenance of its aircraft and the spares it has already procured. In his remarks after signing for the air operators’ certificate, chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, assured that the

carrier was set to change the face of air travel, with the seven aircraft it has acquired ahead of operations. Onyema said that the airline was not established to make money, but to create jobs for teeming indigenous professionals. He assured that Air Peace is committed to safety, even as it would not defer the maintenance of its aircraft. . He said the airline would continue to invest more in Nigerian pilots and aircraft engineers to reduce capital flight. He spoke of plans to train more professionals, including pilots and aircraft engineers to attain global certification. The CEO urged Nigerian operators to redeem their image by paying up loans they have secured from commercial banks, so that new entrants could leverage on that. Onyema said that Air Peace would bridge the gap in pilots and engineers unemployment by training younger professionals to acquire experience on the job. He urged fuel marketers and other vendors to close ranks with operators to make aviation fuel available. Onyema said the airline will deepen local content to grow the sector.

their busiest months on record in August as they battle to be chosen by the government as the site for expansion. Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, said that over seven million passengers travelled through its terminals in August, topping July’s recordhigh of 6.97 million passengers. That was 1.3 per cent higher than in the same month last year, boosted by a 15.3 per cent increase in passenger traffic with Mexico and a 9.3 per cent rise with China. Gatwick carried 4.4 million passengers, up 8.2 per cent on August last year, helped by a 13.6 per cent rise in travel to the United Arab Emirates, and a 34.8 per cent increase in the number of passengers travelling to Istanbul in Turkey. A government-appointed commission is due to make a recommendation on where to expand London's airport capacity next year, from a short-

Heathrow is operating at 98 per cent of its capacity, and has long been at the centre of a political tussle over airport expansion in the south-east of England. The airport said on Thursday that larger, fuller aircraft were behind the growth in passenger traffic in August. In September, business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry said that trade growth would be best delivered by a single British hub airport. That view would favour expanding Heathrow. Gatwick argues its expansion would promote competition between airports and airlines. Frankfurt airport, Europe's third largest hub, also reported its busiest month ever in August, owner Fraport said on Wednesday. It surpassed 6 million passengers in a single month for the first time, with growth in demand especially coming from Western Europe.

‘Fuel shortage a challenge' C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 8

The issue of Jet A1 is very challenging to the airlines in the industry. At SAA, how have you been able to cope with the skyrocketing price of the product? For every airline, that is one of the products that have continually been on the increase in the sector, but despite this, at SAA, we don’t compromise on things that are important like security, safety and others. Definitely, fuel price takes a chunk of your revenue as an airline, which is over 30 per cent at the moment. We ensure that we don’t spend on things that are unnecessary, but at the same time, we don’t compromise on the services that we offer to the end users. What are the major challenges you face flying into Nigeria?

We were just talking about fuel now; I think fuel shortage is one of those challenges in the sector in Nigeria. Just a few weeks ago, we had shortage of fuel in the country and for you to continue to fly successfully into Nigeria, you will need a reliable partner and we are fortunate that we have that. With proper planning on the challenges we have in place and contingency plans, we have been able to surmount them. What is your description of the Nigerian market when compared to other cities or countries you fly into? The Nigerian market is vibrant, dynamic, very demanding, complicated, sophisticated, rewarding and more than anything else, it is an enjoyable market for us at SAA.

BUSINESS | MONEY LINE 41

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Qatar bank now largest investor in Ecobank Raises stake to 23.5%

MEA ICON Acquisition of 23.5 per cent by QNB has strengthened the lender’s strategy of being a Middle East Africa (MEA) Icon by 2017

total stake in Ecobank is now 23.5 per cent, the statement said. This enables QNB Group to become the largest shareholder whilst strengthening the partnership with Ecobank, a leading pan-African bank, and is a fundamental step towards QNB’s strategy of being a Middle East Africa (MEA) Icon by 2017. “Yesterday’s acquisition was funded through existing resources and QNB will account for Ecobank as an Associate in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. QNB Capital and Morgan Stanley are acting as financial advisors to QNB in relation to this transaction, “the statement stated. The deal came on the heels QNB’s acquisition of 12.5 per cent stake in Ecobank from Nigeria’s bad bank, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria

Godson Ikoro

oised to attain its ambition of becoming the largest bank in Middle East and Africa by 2017, Qatar National Bank (QNB) has acquired a further 11 per cent stake in pan-African lender Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), in a deal worth $283 million, the Qatari lender said in a statement yesterday. QNB acquired 2,047,877,260 ordinary shares using its existing resources to take its total holding in ETI. QNB Group’s

(AMCON) on 4th September at a premium. QNB had injected $200million in Ecobank to become the second largest shareholder in the pan African bank after South Africa’s state owned public investment corporation limited. The Managing Director of AMCON, Mr. Mustapha Chikeobi had confirmed to New Telegraph that the transaction was at a premium, stressing that it was very rare for a government institution to sell its shares at a premium. Yesterday’s purchase was the forth-African purchase in the past two years. In March 2013, it bought Societe General’s Egyptian business for $2billion and the bank is also present in Libya, Mauritania, South Sudan and Tunisia. Stockbrokers had told Reuters that $200million of Eco-

CBN’s intervention bid leaves naira unchanged

he naira was unchanged at N162.95 at yesterday's market close, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) asked banks for bids to sell the greenback in a move to quell dollar shortages and support the naira, dealers said. The local unit according to Reuters, opened at N163.05 to the US currency, and weakened further to N163.50 intraday on

strong demand, prompting the apex bank's interest. Dealers said news of the proposed bid made some lenders sell dollars in order to participate as the banking watchdog usually sells dollar at a discount to interbank market, helping the naira recover to last Friday's level. "The central bank called round to get a feel of the mar-

ket ... some banks saw this as a signal that the bank could intervene," one dealer said. Dealers said dollar flows has slowed after state-owned energy company – the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which accounts for bulk of dollar supply on the interbank sold about $300 million last week, which failed to lift the local currency.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

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

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

of assets and had generated USD255million of profit before tax (for the six months to 30 June 2014) and operates across its unique network of 1,241 branches, 2,500 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and 16,245 Point of Sales (PoS) terminals servicing over 10.8 million customers. With 20,114 employees, Ecobank is the largest employer in the financial sector industry in Middle Africa.

BOI makes case for commercial courts Godson Ikoro

he Bank of Industry (BOI) has advocated for the establishment of commercial courts that would speedily deal with default in loan repayment. A statement from the lender quoted its Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, as saying that the court was necessary to check the trend. Olaoluwa expressed regret that most banks in the country had gone under because of nonrepayment of loans by their customers; adding that there was need for efficient commercial courts to tame the menace. ``We need access to funds to finance our businesses but we also need to understand what the financial system is going through. When a bank collapses, nine out of 10 reasons why it collapsed is because they have not been able to recover their loans. ``I know there are bank cases that have been in court in the last five or seven years with banks trying to recover loans that have proven very difficult because such cases are locked up in our normal courts”, he emphasized. Consequently, he said one

way to address it is to have commercial courts that can fast track the process for foreclosure of defaulting bank loans. The BOI boss also hinted that plans were underway to appoint business development support plans for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to minimise the incidence. He said the business development support programme would help to give the necessary direction to any entrepreneur with a viable business plan. Olaoluwa said the bank was also setting up a loans monitoring unit, which would address the issue of non-repayment of loans. According to him, BOI is in the process of appointing business development support plans that will hold the SME right from the point of applying for a loan through repayment. He said the plan would ensure proper documentation, provision of securities, disbursement and utilisation all the way until the full recovery is achieved. ``This business development support plans are at the point of being appointed and we believe that it will improve the performance of the SMEs,” he said.

S’Sudan sanction: Kenyan banks face risk

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

bank shares were transferred to QNB at N20.01each. Set up in 1985 in Lomé, Togo, where it is headquartered, Ecobank is the leading pan-African bank with a presence in 36 countries across the African continent and in 4 other countries across the globe. Ecobank is one of the top three banks (by assets) in 14 of the countries in which Ecobank is present. As at June 2014, Ecobank had USD23.4b

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

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

enyan commercial banks operating in South Sudan may be affected by possible United Nations sanctions against anyone who undermines current peace talks in Africa’s newest nation, according to the country’s central bank. “Sanctions to South Sudan could expose Kenyan banks to risks,” the Nairobi-based Central Bank of Kenya said in a report on its website dated September 5. Policy makers should pay attention to any additional “punitive litigations” against financial institutions, regulators, companies and countries for violating sanctions or breaches of contract, it said. The UN Security Council according to Bloomberg, said in August that it’s considering targeted sanctions again warring parties in a conflict that erupted in December after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar, of staging a failed coup. Machar denies the charge. The conflict took on ethnic dimensions between Kiir’s

Dinka group and the Nuer tribe to which Machar belongs, as it spread to oil-producing areas, leaving thousands of people dead and displacing another 1.5 million, according to the UN. Kenya borders South Sudan and is a member of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East African bloc also known as IGAD, which is mediating peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to end the violence. IGAD and the African Union have also said they may place sanctions on individuals who block the peace process. Kenyan lenders operating in South Sudan include Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd., which is East Africa’s biggest lender, as well as Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd., Equity Bank Ltd. and CFC Stanbic Holdings Ltd. The Central Bank of Kenya report was jointly written by financial industry regulators including the Capital Markets Authority, Insurance Regulatory Authority, Retirement Benefits Authority, and the Saccos Societies Regulatory Authority.

42 BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

15-Sep-14

Bonds

Price

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

Description 9.25 28-SEP-2014 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

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

9.25 4.00 13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

100.00 535.00 530.27 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 281.35 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 70.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,591.19

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,643.22

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

***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

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

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

0.04 0.60 1.92 2.61 2.86 2.96 3.70 4.79 5.10 7.37 9.49 14.20 14.68 15.18 15.85 19.84

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

10.71 10.95 11.46 11.48 11.54 11.55 11.63 11.71 11.84 12.19 12.28 12.45 12.44 12.44 12.28 12.32

6.62 10.67 11.37 11.41 11.47 11.48 11.53 11.63 11.75 12.13 12.23 12.41 12.40 12.38 12.23 12.28

99.93 96.04 102.65 107.95 95.96 94.62 97.22 115.35 81.83 120.00 110.60 116.77 100.28 73.38 84.20 98.70

100.08 96.19 102.80 108.10 96.11 94.77 97.52 115.65 82.13 120.30 110.90 117.07 100.58 73.68 84.50 99.00

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding 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 3.30 112.22 116.70 66.49

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.13 0.69 1.30 2.23 2.60 2.81

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

11.93 13.57 13.38 13.50 12.51 12.53

98.53 91.33 104.82 101.15 99.42 96.85

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

0.08 0.96 0.56 1.08 1.09 2.59 1.64 3.29 2.27 4.05 2.46 2.46 2.85 2.92 5.19 3.07 3.59 6.20 6.29 3.77 3.81

3.29 4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.74 1.00 1.00 1.94 1.44 1.95

14.11 15.38 14.18 15.44 14.47 17.10 12.31 13.37 13.30 12.67 12.50 16.28 12.53 12.54 12.86 14.30 12.62 13.11 14.08 13.08 13.59

99.92 97.51 99.40 99.00 101.57 85.58 102.43 101.57 101.45 104.08 104.35 95.75 104.51 107.19 106.01 101.07 105.84 101.56 103.71 104.15 104.09

1,301.62

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,283.79

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

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

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

14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

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

6.00 8.50 6.08 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 37.25 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 17.28 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.00 5.00 4.78 4.79

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Corporate Bonds

483.24 487.19

A+/Agusto; AA/GCR

LAFARGE WAPCO

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014

Aa/Agusto

GTB µ NGC

17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014

Nil

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto

*UPDC

BB+/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

*FLOURMILLS

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A-/Agusto

NAHCO

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

*C & I LEASING *DANA# *TOWER *TOWER

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

UBA

BBB-/GCR

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

FSDH

A/GCR

13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

*DANA NAHCO

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

07-Oct-11

11.50

11.80

07-Oct-14

0.06

1.00

11.77

99.95

18-Dec-09

13.50

13.17

18-Dec-14

0.26

5.21

16.43

99.14

01-Apr-10

17.00

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.29

8.71

19.89

99.01

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.68

4.88

15.82

96.66

09-Dec-10

12.00

13.62

09-Dec-15

0.75

1.00

11.94

100.64

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.60

06-Jan-16

0.83

2.63

13.57

100.97

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

2.04

1.00

12.49

100.87

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

2.11

1.34

12.84

102.50

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

3.04

1.00

12.55

101.08

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.73

30-Nov-17

1.86

1.88

13.30

108.87

09-Apr-11

16.00

7.20

09-Apr-18

1.82

3.48

14.88

102.00

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

2.23

5.20

16.70

102.31

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

2.23

5.06

16.56

101.64

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

4.02

1.35

13.02

102.99

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.70

18-Oct-18

2.09

2.29

13.79

103.80

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.42

6.11

17.61

99.04

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

3.29

2.16

13.74

105.77

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.17

2.76

14.86

101.47

11-Feb-18

3.41

1.00

12.60

93.50

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

141.62

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

143.66

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

IFC

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

12.00 11.22 Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

4.82

4.67

110.44

111.31

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.02

3.83

103.87

104.57

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.16

5.04

108.51

109.37

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

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

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,614.07

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

AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

3.13

111.13

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.33

105.04

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

6.57

101.72

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

8.64

8.09

94.58

96.23

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

5.96

5.65

100.14

101.25

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

8.69

105.75

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.00

100.98

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

8.92

8.67

99.33

100.29

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.44

103.01

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

7.69

94.77

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II

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

24-Jun-14

9.25

400.00

24-Jun-21

8.73

8.57

103.07

103.89

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

7.59

101.25

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.65

8.39

99.62

100.91

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,760.00 4,853.57

**Treasury Bills DTM 10 17 24 31 38 45 52 59 66

FIXINGS Maturity 25-Sep-14 2-Oct-14 9-Oct-14 16-Oct-14 23-Oct-14 30-Oct-14 6-Nov-14 13-Nov-14 20-Nov-14

Bid Discount (%) 10.10 10.75 10.65 10.50 10.50 10.55 10.60 10.65 10.25

Offer Discount (%) 9.85 10.50 10.40 10.25 10.25 10.30 10.35 10.40 10.00

Bid Yield (%) 10.13 10.80 10.73 10.59 10.62 10.69 10.76 10.84 10.44

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 11.9583 12.3448 13.3079 14.2031

NITTY

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

11.75

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

12.04

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M 6M

162.85 163.01 163.27 163.91 165.02 166.16 169.82

162.95 163.24 163.57 164.51 166.28 167.95 173.19

O/N Tenor Call 1M 3M

REPO

Rate (%) 11.67 12.04 13.01

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

***LCRM

09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

112.22 116.70 66.49

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

2.23 2.60 2.81

2.00 1.00 1.00

13.50 12.51 12.53

101.15 99.42 96.85

6.00 8.50 6.08 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 37.25 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 17.28 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.00 5.00 4.78 4.79

0.08 0.96 0.56 1.08 1.09 2.59 1.64 3.29 2.27 4.05 2.46 2.46 2.85 2.92 5.19 3.07 3.59 6.20 6.29 3.77 3.81

3.29 4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.74 1.00 1.00 1.94 1.44 1.95

14.11 15.38 14.18 15.44 14.47 17.10 12.31 13.37 13.30 12.67 12.50 16.28 12.53 12.54 12.86 14.30 12.62 13.11 14.08 13.08 13.59

99.92 97.51 99.40 99.00 101.57 85.58 102.43 101.57 101.45 104.08 104.35 95.75 104.51 107.19 106.01 101.07 105.84 101.56 103.71 104.15 104.09

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.29

8.71

19.89

99.01

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.68

4.88

15.82

96.66

13.62

09-Dec-15

0.75

1.00

11.94

100.64

0.60

06-Jan-16

0.83

2.63

13.57

100.97

29-Sep-16

2.04

1.00

12.49

100.87

101.25

1,301.62

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,283.79

Sub-National Bonds A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto Tuesday, September 16, A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR Sanctity of Truth

NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO 2014 LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

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

BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS 43

Nigerian stocks advance on investors’ optimism CONFIDENCE

Stock market begins the week on positive note with N31billion gain TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Stories byBonds Chris Ugwu Corporate

A+/Agusto; AA/GCR

LAFARGE WAPCO

espite came theGTB way of inµ NGC as the Nil vestors yesterday, Bbb-/Agusto bulls regained*UPDC their grip A-/Agusto on the market *FLOURMILLS activities, BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS causing bargain hunters to A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO jostle for shares onFSDH the back A-/Agusto of A/GCR blue chip companies. UBA BBB-/GCR Analysts said the resurgence *C & I LEASING # *DANA of BBB+/DataPro†; the bulls BB+/GCR to sustain the marA-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR *TOWER# ketAAA/DataPro†; rally after four weeks of # A+/GCR loss, was indication*TOWER that conA/Agusto; A/GCR UBA fidence is returning to market Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *LA CASERA Aa/Agusto

BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR BBB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS# *DANA NAHCO

he Nigerian Stock ExTOTAL OUTSTANDING change (NSE) VALUE yesterday TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATIONapgranted anticipatory proval for the shares of AcSupranational Bond cess Bank Plc to beIFCplaced on AAA/S&P technical suspension. TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE This MARKET is coming on the heels TOTAL CAPITALISATION of the proposed Rights Issue of N68Rating/Agency billion by the Nigerian Issuer lender. “The approval follows the application made by the FGN Eurobonds bank to the Nigerian Stock ExBB-/Fitch; B+/S&P change,’’ the NSE said. BB-/Fitch; FGN According to the Exchange, BB-/S&P Access Bank will hold an ExBB-/Fitch; traordinary General Meeting BB-/S&P TOTALon OUTSTANDING VALUE (EGM) Monday, October 13, 2014 to seek itsCAPITALISATION shareholders’ TOTAL MARKET authorisation for the board of Corporateto Eurobonds directors raise additional eqB/Fitch; B-/S&P in the sum AFREN I to uity capital ofPLCup B+/Fitch; B+/S&Pby way of GTBANK PLC I N68 billion a Rights B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC Issue. B/Fitch; B/S&P FIDELITYsaid BANK it PLC The board of the bank B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC believes that the technical susB/Fitch AFREN PLC II pension is in the overall interest B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC of B/Fitch; its shareholders and will preB/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC serve their account of B-/Fitch; B/S&Pvalue, onFIRST BANK PLC theB-/Fitch; proposed corporate B/S&P AFRENaction. PLC III “TheB/S&P Technical Suspension B-/Fitch; ACCESS BANK PLC II A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

in spite of security challenges pose threats to investment in the country. The key market performance measures, the NSE All Share Index and market capitalisation, rose by 0.23 per cent, as market sentiments extended gaining streak following investors’ high optimism. Consequently, the All-Share Index11.50 gained 96.06 basis or LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCTpoints 2014 13.50cent GUARANTY TRUST at 18-DEC-2014 0.23 per to close 40,769.00, 17.00 NGC40,672.94 31-DEC-2014 recorded at as against 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 the weekend, while the market 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 capitalisation of equities ap14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 preciated by N31 billion or 0.23 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 per cent, as 25-OCT-2016 market sentiment 14.25 FSDH 13.00 UBA returned to 30-SEP-2017 the green territory. 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 activiAlongside trading MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 ties, Qatar National Bank SAQ MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 acquired additional holdings MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 of 11.0 (2,047,877,260 14.00per UBA II cent 22-SEP-2018 ordinary in Ecobank 15.75 LA shares) CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

shares valued at N186 million in 708 deals. Indigenous Petroleum Exploration Company, Seplat Petroleum advanced by 0.75 per cent to close at N675.00 per share. Cement manufacturing giant, Dangote Cement, gained 483.24 2.27 per cent to close at N219.99, 487.19 while industry competitors, Lafarge Cement WAPCO and Ashaka Cement, 11.80 07-Oct-14strengthened 0.06 by 1.27 per cent and 3.03 per0.26 cent 13.17 18-Dec-14

Transnational Incorporated, thus increasing QNB’s total stake in ETI to 23.5 per cent. The acquisition is expected to be completed three days from the date hereof. Meanwhile, a turnover of 2.2 billion shares worth N47.7 billion in 4,084 deals were recorded in the day’s trading. Banking sub-sector of the financial services sector was 07-Oct-11 11.50 the most active (measured by 18-Dec-09 13.50 01-Apr-10 17.00 turnover volume); with 2.09 billion17-Aug-10 shares worth 10.00 N46.5 bil09-Dec-10 12.00 lion exchanged by investors in 06-Jan-11 14.00 1,127 deals. 29-Sep-11 13.00 Volume in the sub-sector was 25-Oct-13 14.25 largely30-Sep-10 driven by activity 13.00 in the shares30-Nov-12 of ETI Plc and18.00 GTB Plc. 09-Apr-11 16.00 Also, other financial sub09-Sep-11 18.00 sector, boosted by activity in the 09-Sep-11 16.00 shares22-Sep-11 of FBNH Plc14.00 followed with a 18-Oct-13 turnover of 23.3 million 15.75

Heineken confirms, rebuffs SABMiller bid

15.00

utch brewer Heineken 25-Oct-16 2.11 yesterday 3.04 con20.00HEIN.AS 30-Sep-17 0.73firmed that 30-Nov-17larger 1.86 rival 7.20 09-Apr-18 approached 1.82 SABMiller SAB.L 09-Sep-18 2.23 it2.90 about a potential takeover. 0.80 09-Sep-18 2.23 The Dutch brewer however, 35.00 22-Sep-18 4.02 said controlling share2.70 that its 18-Oct-18 2.09 holder intended 17-Feb-12 17.00 0.41 17-Feb-19 to keep 2.42the 01-Apr-14 16.00 4.50 01-Apr-19 3.29 company independent. 14-Nov-13 15.25 2.05 14-Nov-20 The maker of Heineken6.17and 141.62 Amstel beers said it consulted 143.66 with its majority shareholder and concluded that SABMiller's proposal was11-Feb-18 non-actionable. 11-Feb-13 10.20 12.00 3.41 "The Heineken family has The bank in a filing with Ex12.00 change, said the pre-tax profit informed SABMiller, Heineken 11.22 rose to N27.1 billion up 3.85 per and Heineken Holding of its incent from N26.1 billion duringOutstanding tention Value to preserve the heritage Issue Date Coupon (%) Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) ($mm) identity of Heineken as an the comparable period of 2013. and Also, revenue rose 15.2 per independent company," it said a statement. cent to07-Oct-11 N117.93 billion in the in 6.75 500.00 28-Jan-21 4.82 According to Reuters, the six months period under review from N102.4 billion founding family owns just over 12-Jul-13 5.13 posted 500.00 12-Jul-18 4.02 50 percent of Heineken via Heinekin 2013. 12-Jul-13 6.38 500.00 12-Jul-23 5.16 Based on the results, the en Holding HEIO.AS. A further bank declared an interim divi- 1,500.00 12.5 per cent is owned by Mexico's dend of 0.25 kobo each, the same 1,614.07 FEMSA FMSAUBD.MX. amount it paid a year earlier. Citing people with knowlThe bank’s profit before tax edge of the matter, Bloomberg 01-Feb-1120 per cent 11.50 450.00 agency01-Feb-16 3.13 reported SABMillhad jumped to N13.4 news 7.50results 500.00approach 19-May-16 4.33 er's earlier on Sunday , billion19-May-11 in its unaudited 350.00 25-Jul-17 for the25-Jul-12 three months 7.25 ended 31 saying it was part of an6.57 SAB 6.88 300.00 02-May-18 8.64 a March09-May-13 2014. strategy to protect itself from 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 5.96 The08-Nov-13 bank, which recorded potential takeover bid from its 08-Apr-12 10.25 300.00 08-Apr-19 8.69 N11.1 billion PBT in 6.25 the com- larger rival, world No. 1 brewer 22-Apr-14 500.00 22-Apr-19 6.00 parable period of 2013, also Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR. 21-May-14 8.75 200.00 21-May-19 8.92 grossed N57 billion, representSpeculation about an 07-Aug-13 8.25 300.00 07-Aug-20 7.44AB move 09-Dec-20 on SABMiller ing a nine per cent increase in InBev 09-Dec-13 6.63 360.00 7.69has 24-Jun-14 9.25 400.00 circulating 24-Jun-21 been for months, the period under review. 8.73 as 5.53

NSE places Access Bank on technical suspension 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

will be lifted on January 27, 2015 and normal trading activities will resume on January 28, 2015,’’ the NSE said. Description The lender, which raised a $400 million in Eurobond last June, wants to 6.75 further bolster JAN 28, 2021 its core capital. Chief Executive 5.13 JUL 12,Herbert 2018 Wigwe had while presenting 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 the bank’s half-year results recently, said he anticipated that the lender would need to raise more capital as a result of the new regulations. FEBexpecting 01, 2016 The bank is11.50 also 2016 cent a loan growth 7.50 of MAY 2019,per 2017 cent this year, after7.25 a JUL 1725,per MAY 09, 2018 rise in the first6.88 half, driven by 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 increased lending to its corpo10.25 APR 08, 2019 rate and investment banking 6.25 APR 22, 2019 customers. 8.75 May 21, 2019 Access Bank8.25had reported AUG 07, 2020 3.85 per cent growth its 2014 6.63 DEC in 09, 2020 USD LIBOR+7.677 half-year9.25/6M pre-tax profit. JUN 24, 2021

to close, respectively, at N120.00 and N33.29 per share. Petroleum marketer, Forte Oil, slid 5 per cent to close at N223.82 per share, while industry player, Oando Plc, lost 0.87 per cent to close at N24.99 per share. Also, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank, shed 3.05 per cent and 1.63 per cent to close, respectively, to close at1.00 N28.26 and 11.77N24.20 per 99.95 share respectively .16.43 5.21 99.14

the 1.34world leader 12.84 - known 102.50for its aggressive merger strategy 1.00 12.55 101.08 - has 1.88 13.30 108.87 largely digested its last acqui3.48 sition. Talk14.88 of such a102.00 deal had 5.20 16.70 intensified in the past102.31 week, ac5.06 16.56 101.64 cording to sources that102.99 spoke on 1.35 13.02 condition of13.79 anonymity . 2.29 103.80 SAB was17.61 not immediately 6.11 99.04 2.16 13.74 comment 105.77 after available for 2.76 14.86 101.47 Heineken's announcement, but declined to comment earlier in the day. Bloomberg reported from its sources that12.60 SABMiller's offer 1.00 93.50 would have made the Heineken family one of the largest shareholders in the combined group. The newswire also said that the Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price approach was made in the past two weeks. Prices & Yields SABMiller has done many 4.67 110.44 111.31 deals on its journey from a small South African 104.57 player to 3.83 103.87 the world's number two brew108.51 5.04 ery , including the 2005109.37 purchase of Colombia's Bavaria, the 2007 purchase of Grolsch, the 2008 combination of Miller Brewing Co with the US business of Mol3.13 Coors TAP 111.13 .N and111.13 son the 2011 4.33 105.04 purchase of105.04 Foster’s Group. 6.57 101.72 brewers, 101.72 SABLike other 8.09 94.58 Miller is struggling to96.23 grow in 5.65 100.14 101.25 Europe and North America. 8.69 105.75 105.75 New revenues from emerging 6.00 100.98 100.98 middle classes in developing 8.67 99.33 100.29 markets have been dented by 7.44 103.01 103.01 weak currencies in many of 7.69 94.77 94.77 those countries. 8.57 103.07 103.89

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

7.59

101.25

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.65

8.39

99.62

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

100.91

15-Sep-14

4,760.00 4,853.57

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 **Treasury FIXINGS Money Market FMDQ OTCBills PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement on www.fmdqotc.com. Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) DTM Maturity Bid Discount (%) 10 25-Sep-14 10.10 17 2-Oct-14 10.75 FGN Bonds24 9-Oct-14 10.65 31 16-Oct-14 10.50 38 23-Oct-14 10.50 Issuer Description Rating/Agency 45 30-Oct-14 10.55 52 6-Nov-14 10.60 9.25 28-SEP-2014 59 13-Nov-14 10.65 4.00 23-APR-2015 66 20-Nov-14 10.25 13.05 16-AUG-2016 73 27-Nov-14 10.75 15.10 27-APR-2017 80 4-Dec-14 10.15 9.85 27-JUL-2017 87 11-Dec-14 10.80 101 25-Dec-14 10.70 9.35 31-AUG-2017 108 1-Jan-15 10.85 10.70 30-MAY-2018 115 8-Jan-15 10.85 16.00 29-JUN-2019 NA NA 122 15-Jan-15 10.85 7.00 23-OCT-2019 129 22-Jan-15 10.40 16.39 27-JAN-2022 136 29-Jan-15 10.60 14.20 14-MAR-2024 143 5-Feb-15 10.30 15.00 28-NOV-2028 157 19-Feb-15 10.45 12.49 22-MAY-2029 171 5-Mar-15 10.40 206 9-Apr-15 10.15 8.50 20-NOV-2029 220 23-Apr-15 10.10 10.00 23-JUL-2030 234 7-May-15 10.00 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 325 6-Aug-15 10.30 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 353 3-Sep-15 10.10 *from the MARKET Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration TOTAL CAPITALISATION

Offer Discount (%) 9.85 10.50 10.40 10.25 10.25Date Issue 10.30 10.35 28-Sep-07 10.40 23-Apr-10 10.00 16-Aug-13 10.50 27-Apr-12 9.90 27-Jul-07 10.55 10.45 31-Aug-07 10.60 30-May-08 10.60 29-Jun-12 10.60 23-Oct-09 10.15 27-Jan-12 10.35 14-Mar-14 10.05 28-Nov-08 10.20 22-May-09 10.15 9.90 20-Nov-09 9.85 23-Jul-10 9.75 18-Jul-14 10.05 9.85

Bid Yield (%) 10.13 10.80 10.73 10.59 10.62 (%) Coupon 10.69 10.76 9.25 10.84 4.00 10.44 13.05 10.99 15.10 10.38 9.85 11.09 11.03 9.35 11.21 10.70 11.23 16.00 11.26 7.00 10.80 16.39 11.04 14.20 10.73 15.00 10.94 12.49 10.93 10.77 8.50 10.75 10.00 10.69 12.1493 11.34 11.19

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

Modified Duration Buckets

***LCRM <3

3<5 >5 CAPITALISATION Market

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET

Description

Issue Date

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25Porfolio FMB II Market 03-APR-2017 Total Outstanding Value(Bn) 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 Volume(Bn) 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 1,033.12 983.07 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

1,125.22 809.27 2,967.62

Tenor O/N 1M Outstanding Value 3M (N'bn) 6M

Rate (%) 11.9583 12.3448 13.3079 Date Maturity 14.2031

100.00 28-Sep-14 535.00 23-Apr-15 NITTY 530.27 16-Aug-16 452.80 27-Apr-17 Tenor Rate (%) 20.00 27-Jul-17 1M 10.5333 2M 10.7532 100.00 31-Aug-17 3M 10.7694 300.00 30-May-18 6M 10.7963 351.30 29-Jun-19 9M 10.9039 233.90 23-Oct-19 12M 11.1357 600.00 27-Jan-22 281.35 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 NIFEX 150.00 22-May-29 Current Price ($/N)20-Nov-29 200.00 BID($/N) 591.57 163.2525 23-Jul-30 OFFER ($/N) 163.3525 70.00 18-Jul-34

4,591.19

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

11.75

Tenor

O/N

12.04

Spot 7D Offer 14D Yield 1M (%) 2M 6.62 3M 10.67 6M 1Y11.37

REPO TTM (Yrs)

Tenor Call 0.04 1M 0.60 3M 6M1.92

Bid Yield (%)

Rate (%) 11.67 10.71 12.04 10.95 13.01 11.46 13.61

2.61 11.48 11.41 2.86 11.54 11.47 2.96 11.55 11.48 :Benchmarks 3.70 11.63 11.53 * :Amortising Bond 4.79 11.71 11.63 µ :Convertible Bond 5.10 11.84 11.75 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 7.37 12.19 12.13 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 9.49Mortgage Bank of12.28 12.23 FMBN: Federal Nigeria 14.20 Finance Corporation 12.45 12.41 IFC: International 14.68 12.44 Management 12.40 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables NAHCO: Nigerian Company 15.18 Aviation Handling 12.44 12.38 O/N: Overnight 15.85 12.28 12.23 UPDC: UAC19.84 Property Development Company 12.32 12.28 NOTE:

WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company

Bid ($/N) 162.85 163.01 163.27 Bid Price 163.91 165.02 99.93 166.16 96.04 169.82 102.65 177.21

Offer ($/N)

Price

162.95 163.24 163.57 Offer Price 164.51 166.28 100.08 167.95 96.19 173.19 102.80 185.49

107.95 108.10 95.96 96.11 94.62 94.77 NA :Not Applicable 97.22 97.52 # :Floating Rate Bond 115.35 115.65 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 81.83 82.13 120.00 120.30 †: Bond rating expired 110.60 110.90 116.77 117.07 100.28 100.58 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 73.38 73.68 UBA: United Bank for Africa 84.20 84.50 98.70 99.00

4,643.22

Rating/Agency

NIBOR

Bonds

951.30 872.92 2,807.29

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 Weighting by 03-Apr-12 Outstanding Vol 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 35.02 06-Jul-12 33.89

0.00 0.00 Weighting by Mkt 17.25 Value 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 34.81 0.00/16.50 37.92

978.35 24.56 3.30 Bucket Weighting 112.22 116.70 66.490.35 0.34

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 % Exposure_ 03-Apr-17 Mod_Duration 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 16.06 06-Jul-17 34.16

0.13 0.69 1.30 Implied Yield 2.23 2.60 11.47 2.81 12.05

31.09 100.00

27.27 100.00

1,283.79 1.00

0.31

49.79 100.00

12.28 12.07

1,301.62

# Risk Premium (%)

1.00 2.63 Implied 2.27 Portfolio 2.00 Price 1.00 119.1512 1.00 134.6071

102.9962 119.3654

Valuation Yield (%) 11.93 13.57 13.38 INDEX 13.50 12.51 1,131.69 12.53 1,139.80

1,201.53 1,133.84

Indicative Price

98.53 91.33 YTD Return 104.82 (%)101.15 99.42 13.1694 96.85 13.9802

20.1533 13.3844

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

NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER

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

14.00 12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00

6.00 8.50 6.08 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 37.25 9.00

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

0.08 0.96 0.56 1.08 1.09 2.59 1.64 3.29 2.27 4.05

3.29 4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00

14.11 15.38 14.18 15.44 14.47 17.10 12.31 13.37 13.30 12.67

99.92 97.51 99.40 99.00 101.57 85.58 102.43 101.57 101.45 104.08

44 BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET

Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014

Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039

Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at September 15, 2014 Daily Summary (Bonds)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 15.10% FGN APR 2017 16.39% FGN JAN 2022 Federal Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol FG9B2017S2 FG9B2022S1

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 2 1 3

Current Price 108.69 110.05

Bond Activity Totals

Quantity Traded 390 30 420

Value Traded 446,899.55 33,709.73 480,609.28

420

480,609.28

420

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

480,609.28

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

No. of Deals 32 21 11 64

Current Price 0.55 33.25 36.00

Quantity Traded 6,606,640 159,701 186,333 6,952,674

Value Traded 3,654,031.99 5,303,405.00 6,711,508.33 15,668,945.32

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 20 20

Current Price 3.09

Quantity Traded 288,560 288,560

Value Traded 874,120.10 874,120.10

7,241,234

16,543,065.42

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. CHELLARAMS PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © 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 2 2 2 328 61 395

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014Construction Infrastructure/Heavy Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC.

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

395

Quantity Traded 12,750 Page 2,250

Value Traded 18,487.50 of 13 9,296.00

6,600 15,402,983 747,801 16,172,384

6,798.00 91,230,652.89 43,306,530.66 134,571,765.05

16,172,384

134,571,765.05

No. of Deals 23 23

Current Price 1.05

Quantity Traded 1,039,998 1,039,998

Value Traded 1,075,486.18 1,075,486.18

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 15 15

Current Price 63.99

Quantity Traded 27,354 27,354

Value Traded 1,706,379.00 1,706,379.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 20 20

Current Price 15.18

Quantity Traded 152,888 152,888

Value Traded 2,317,117.12 2,317,117.12

1,220,240

5,098,982.30

UAC-PROP Daily Summary (Equities)

Telecommunications Services

Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 MASS TELECOMMUNICATION INNOVATIONS NIGERIA Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 PLC Activity Summary onServices Board EQTY Telecommunications Totals

No. of Deals 7 59 20 93 2 181

Current Price 8.29 172.00 28.16 176.13 4.43

Quantity Traded 18,808 Page 390,761 224,600 604,527 66,300 1,304,996

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 26 26

Current Price 134.00

Quantity Traded 45,555 45,555

Value Traded 6,727,731.15 6,727,731.15

No. of Deals 29 58 47 43 19 5 2 203

Current Price 6.97 8.37 64.00 4.03 9.42 21.99 13.41

Quantity Traded 42,902 909,023 271,871 878,807 134,110 23,738 400 2,260,851

Value Traded 284,714.00 7,622,349.81 17,068,923.87 3,537,597.75 1,262,899.20 496,346.60 5,364.00 30,278,195.23

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 33 69

Current Price 55.01 1,010.00

Quantity Traded 43,691 39,819

Value Traded 2,330,403.34 40,246,805.06

Symbol

No. of Deals 102

Current Price

Quantity Traded Page 83,510

Value Traded 3 of 13 42,577,208.40

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 10 21 31

Current Price 4.30 1.15

Quantity Traded 150,874 483,899 634,773

Value Traded 636,344.42 555,483.85 1,191,828.27

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 27 31 58

Current Price 34.95 48.01

Quantity Traded 206,755 188,899 395,654

Value Traded 6,999,972.86 9,027,252.15 16,027,225.01

4,725,339

277,817,836.59

Quantity Traded 585,366 2,700,490 2,050,387,820 2,093,122 12,225,160 4,069,380 2,147,970 4,322,611 1,092,974

Value Traded 5,613,659.94 17,081,187.37 45,817,397,579.43 4,154,506.55 348,415,588.11 11,583,898.35 4,719,375.60 30,765,050.45 11,436,778.59

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. UNION DICON SALT PLC. Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSUMER GOODS Food Products--Diversified Published by The Products--Diversified Nigerian Stock Exchange © Food Totals

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR NASCON NNFM UNIONDICON

Daily Summary (Equities)

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 DIAMOND BANK PLC Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC Activity Summary on Board EQTY UNION BANK NIG.PLC.

FINANCIAL SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Banking UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

601 Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY SKYEBANK Daily Summary STERLNBANK UBA UBN

No. of Deals 20 53 123 61 292 68 (Equities) 29 161 87

Current Price 9.59 6.39 19.82 1.95 28.26 2.83 2.19 7.08 10.75

Value Traded 155,918.32 267,153,909.00 of 13 6,335,520.40 107,076,591.81 293,709.00 181,015,648.53

No. of Deals 4 25 204 1,127

Current Price 0.50 0.90 24.20

Page Quantity Traded 661,541 1,238,380 11,127,624 2,092,652,438

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO 26 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE 6 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST 4 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTENEGINS 28 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LAWUNION 3 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC LINKASSURE 2 MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD 1 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. MBENEFIT 6 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM 16 Daily Summary as ofINSURANCE 15/09/2014 CO. PLC. NIGER NIGERINS 1 Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE 2 REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC REGALINS 3 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC SOVRENINS 1 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC WAPIC 36 Daily Summary (Equities) Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 135

Current Price 0.83 0.97 0.50 0.55 0.50 0.50 2.50 0.54 0.76 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.72

Quantity Traded 3,013,767 245,000 144,000 1,692,338 152,200 79,685 200 661,956 3,415,000 85 19,798 1,700 1,000 1,331,390 10,758,119

Value Traded 2,496,470.46 238,010.00 72,702.00 961,209.23 76,100.00 39,842.50 516.00 357,386.68 2,596,490.00 42.50 9,899.00 850.00 500.00 959,110.15 7,809,128.52

Banking Totals

Micro-Finance Activity SummaryBanks on Board EQTY

Symbol UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 500

Value Traded 250.00

500

250.00

MTI

1 1 11

Symbol ASHAKACEM

No. of Deals 65

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 1.82

Quantity Traded 40,400 40,400

Value Traded 76,730.00 76,730.00

Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 1 3 4

Current Price Quantity Traded 1.75 Page 8 of 300 13 18.85 1,520 1,820

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 Hotels/Lodging Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC Activity Summary on Board EQTY STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC.

212

Quantity Traded 300 1,200 1,500

Value Traded 390.00 600.00 990.00

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB NESF ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 67 22 376 87 1 6 36 113 708

Current Price 3.19 3.88 14.57 4.20 552.20 0.53 30.00 2.00

Quantity Traded 749,028 1,428,900 8,687,732 7,688,052 100 62,540 421,218 4,305,157 23,342,727

Value Traded 2,448,013.33 5,594,856.00 126,413,368.89 31,146,595.00 52,479.00 32,641.29 12,632,984.30 8,676,913.72 186,997,851.53

2,127,028,484

46,717,441,560.92

Quantity Traded 10,150 1,440,949 18,353

Value Traded 20,300.00 4,717,053.26 1,139,575.99

Symbol BOCGAS

149,413,503.99

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 5.48

Quantity Traded 500

Value Traded 2,605.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 1

Current Price

Quantity Traded 500

Value Traded Page 2,605.00

Symbol THOMASWY

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.79

Quantity Traded 500 500

Value Traded 380.00 380.00

1,000

2,985.00

2 Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 32 32

Current Price 0.51

Quantity Traded 1,571,187 1,571,187

Value Traded 798,304.58 798,304.58

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 287 287

Current Price 24.99

Quantity Traded 8,293,309 8,293,309

Value Traded 207,334,992.65 207,334,992.65

Symbol No. of Deals CONOIL 32 ETERNA 21 FO 93 32 DailyMOBIL Summary (Equities) MRS 4 TOTAL 6 188

Current Price 53.16 3.81 223.82 180.00 56.00 180.00

Quantity Traded 45,869 406,510 653,775 45,729 20,410 69,784 1,242,077

Value Traded 2,324,235.89 1,559,169.19 148,128,589.96 8,168,606.59 1,085,812.00 12,559,587.28 173,826,000.91

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 675.00

519

Quantity TradedPage 23,579 23,579

Value Traded 10 of 13 15,914,444.26 15,914,444.26

11,130,152

397,873,742.40

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 0.89

Quantity Traded 96,262 96,262

Value Traded 87,070.56 87,070.56

Symbol REDSTAREX

No. of Deals 33 33

Current Price 4.55

Quantity Traded 3,435,612 3,435,612

Value Traded 14,504,757.88 14,504,757.88

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,050 2,050

Value Traded 1,025.00 1,025.00

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 15 15

Current Price 1.56

Quantity Traded 1,698,800 1,698,800

Value Traded 2,648,028.00 2,648,028.00

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 25,200 10 500

Value Traded 37,296.00 15.20 1,140.00

ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA STUDPRESS

Symbol UPL

No. of Deals 5 9

Current Price 4.13

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 0.67

Quantity Traded 348,524 348,524

Value Traded 234,121.08 234,121.08

Specialty SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC Specialty Totals

Symbol NSLTECH

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 500 500

Value Traded 250.00 250.00

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 7 49 56

Current Price 2.00 5.20

Quantity Traded 33,658 2,589,611 2,623,269

Value Traded 67,391.00 13,405,938.78 13,473,329.78

Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 27 27

Current Price 4.83

Quantity Traded 650,526 650,526

Value Traded 3,147,694.02 3,147,694.02

8,939,467

34,354,270.02

Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 SERVICES Totals

158

EQTY Board Totals

Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

4,084

2,183,332,339

No. of Deals 1 3 4

Current Price 1,945.00 18.57

11 of 13 Value Traded 219,542.50 257,993.70

47,740,635,251.58 47,740,635,251.58

Page

Daily Summary (ETP) Symbol NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

Page Quantity Traded 58,214 83,924

2,183,332,339

4,084

Equity Activity Totals

4,140,499

1.55 1.60 2.40

Value Traded 501.00 30,078.60 30,579.60

Daily Summary (Equities)

2 1 1

Current Price 1.30 0.50

213,191.00 of 13

Symbol CUTIX

SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

No. of Deals 1 3 4

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

OIL AND GAS Totals

Symbol ABBEYBDS UNHOMES

406,400 Page

Daily Summary (Equities)

Value Traded 15,898.28 2,451,135.40 5,862,914.23 30,951,805.00 39,731.60 200.00 3,696,122.50 12,468.00 23,153,527.52 149,306,194.39

OIL AND GAS

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Value Traded 95,000.00 95,000.00

Quantity Traded 1,850 62,640 417,587 140,794 37,792 400 726,050 1,200 193,214 4,098,279

andStock Production Published Exploration by The Nigerian Exchange © SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Value Traded 5 of 13 273,700.00

Quantity Traded 190,000 190,000

Current Price 8.60 39.40 14.00 219.99 1.10 0.50 5.09 10.93 120.00

Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Quantity Traded Page 273,700

Page

Current Price 0.50

No. of Deals 4 11 34 27 3 1 6 2 52 205

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

Current Price

No. of Deals 1 1

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

No. of Deals 9

Current Price 2.10 3.28 65.00

Symbol CHAMS

Symbol BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM DNMEYER FIRSTALUM PORTPAINT PREMPAINTS WAPCO

Paper/Forest Products THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. Paper/Forest Products Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 3 26 5

Value Traded 2,500.00 895.00 3,395.00

Value Traded 83,122,391.86

Chemicals Totals

Value Traded 273,700.00

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH

Quantity Traded 500 500 1,000

Quantity Traded 2,516,752

NATURAL RESOURCES

Quantity Traded 273,700

1,983

Current Price 5.00 1.88

Current Price 33.29

Current Price 1.00

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC.

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Board EQTY

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals Activity Summary on Board EQTY B.O.C. GASES PLC.

No. of Deals 9

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Symbol CWG TRIPPLEG

Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol NPFMCRFBK

NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC

Value Traded 114,546.00 114,546.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

46,522,359,890.87

7,304,348.89

Quantity Traded 214,900 214,900

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Daily SummaryBETA as of 15/09/2014 GLASS CO PLC. Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039

4 ValueofTraded 13 330,770.50 1,115,399.32 269,746,096.66

2,327,140 Current Price 0.54

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC PREMIER PAINTS PLC. LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB PREMBREW

Value Traded 1,000,375.64 77,044.00 350,000.00 7,304,348.89

No. of Deals 7 7

ICT Totals Published byICT The Nigerian Stock Exchange © INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Activity Summary on ASHAKA CEM PLC

Quantity Traded 732,888 74,800 50,000 2,327,140

Symbol COURTVILLE

IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 Systems Printed Processing 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Symbol COSTAIN

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS PLC Published by The Nigerian NIG Stock Exchange © INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Current Price 1.52 3.95 1.08 5.87 57.99

Current Price 1.42 1.08 7.00

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 21 5 1 61

HEALTHCARE Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC Daily Summary as of 15/09/2014 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. Printed 15/09/2014 14:53:39.039 PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals

Symbol MAYBAKER NEIMETH NIG-GERMAN

Quantity Traded 25 210 235

Value Traded 48,625.00 3,917.70 52,542.70

ETF Board Totals

235

52,542.70

ETP Activity Totals

235

52,542.70

FEATURES

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Since the end of the Civil War, the Nigerian military has never faced such a daunting challenge as presented by Boko Haram, writes EMMANUEL ONANI

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES EDITOR

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

Boko Haram: Putting military on the spot

ever in the history of Nigeria had the capacity of the military in tackling potential threats to the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty been subjected to such ominous trial. This, perhaps, is because of the complex nature of asymmetrical warfare, which the Boko Haram sect is waging. In asymmetrical warfare, otherwise called guerrilla warfare, the enemies have no definite targets or boundaries. Since it is an unconventional war, the enemies adopt the scorched-earth approach to actualise their mission, which is almost always radical in scope and extreme in content. Terrorism is a global monster, as witnessed in the United States on September 11, 2001. Nigeria is also its ‘home-grown’ form of terrorism, as the terrorists are almost wholly Nigerians. This also presents the dilemma of a fragile nation-state, stampeded into going to war against its own. Since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency reared its ugly head in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the configuration of the Nigerian Army in particular, and the Armed Forces in general, has been altered. The Army, hitherto eulogised for its exploits and gallantry, has suddenly become an object of intense bashing and mockery. The military, an institution founded on conservative tradition and designed to act aggressively in defence of the nation's territorial boundaries, is now being forced to speak in defence of its actions or inactions, as the case may be. Today, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), which coordinates the counterinsurgency war in Borno State, the epicentre of the raging insurgency in the North-East, seems to be in dire straits, especially with the criticisms that have trailed the war by individuals, groups and organisations. Allegation of war crimes From the United Kingdom (UK) came the allegation by the Daily Independent newspaper that the Federal Government had committed war crimes by terrorising some of its citizens in the war against insurgency. In the report, the paper alleged, among others, that “4,000 people have died in military custody…” To give fillip to its claim, the UK Daily Independent released a video, showing what it said was the footage of the purported war crimes.

Abubakar Shekau, flanked by his guards

Gen. Aliyu Gusau, Defence Minister

The report did not spare the Civilian JTF, when it alleged that “the militias armed themselves with machetes, cutlasses and even bows and arrows. They adopted the official title ‘Civilian Joint Taskforce’. “The militia used these tactics in a town called Dikwa, around the start of Ramadan 2013 and filmed some of their operations. The videos show the militia acting as if everyone was a potential terrorist”. DHQ's reaction But in a measured reaction to the allegations, the DHQ faulted the video on all scores, submitting that it was a rehash of a video which had been ‘trending’ on

the internet for some weeks. Nonetheless, the DHQ announced that the military high command had initiated “a broad investigation, to unravel the truth of the matter”. The statement posted on its official website reads in part: “The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has carefully watched the four-minute video clip which the Daily Independent newspaper, UK, promised to release detailing what it described as ‘Nigerian government’s war crime against its citizens’. “It is noteworthy that despite the very wide and alarming promotion given to the said document, the material only contained a synopsis of scenes from the same video which has been in circulation on the internet for some weeks now. “It will be recalled that the military authority has also initiated a broad investigation into these clips, with a view to identifying those indicted. “It is also noteworthy that the only new additions to the video film report of the documentary are the comments by individuals whose position about terrorism in Nigeria are already well known. “It is therefore curious that despite the ongoing efforts, this apparently orchestrated campaign with the use of scenes and footages that are under investigation could constitute a threat to the efforts to locate the culprits of the alleged human rights abuse. “It must be reiterated here that the Nigerian military takes human rights issues very seriously and will not take

lightly any proven case of abuse by its personnel. “The glee with which the Daily Independent newspaper promoted the said video in their earlier report is without doubt in sync with the biased and judgemental posture of a section of the Western press who are prepared to go to any extent, even if it means parroting falsehood, just so to find avenue to denigrate African governments and institutions.” But the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted Amnesty International (AI) as alleging that it had “gruesome footage” of some soldiers, “slitting the throats of detainees”. Specifically, the report under review quoted AI’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty, of alleging that the purported gruesome acts, said to have been sourced from Borno State, “include horrific images of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves”. Shetty was further quoted as claiming that alleged perpetrators of the heinous act “appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), state-sponsored militias”. But responding, the DHQ said military authorities were deeply concerned about the video footages being circulated and which had also become reference data for AI in its report. Rising cases of mutiny A few months ago, about 100 soldiers C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 6

46 FEATURES

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Bridging gap between HND, BSc holders Parity between university and polytechnic graduates will help in Nigeria’s technological development, writes ELIJAH SAMUEL

he gulf instituted by the systemic discrimination between the holders of Higher National Diploma (HND) and those who possess Bachelor’s degrees has continued cause ripples across the country’s socio-economic strata. Stakeholders have intensified efforts to mend whatever schism existing in trade relations and career progression, as a result of the kind of academic certificates individuals possessed. The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) which just called off its almost a year-old strike, among other things, demanded a conducive administrative structure that enhances the realisation of highest grade-level by a polytechnic graduate in any chosen career. To achieve this, the lecturers clamoured for the removal of the ceiling on career progression of HND holders. The Federal Government, in its efforts to find solutions to the horde of problems which had perpetually bedevilled polytechnic education on the one hand, and the welfare of the lecturers on the other, set up a committee in May last year. The committee, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Education, Mr Macjohn Nwaobiala, concluded work and submitted its report early July, 2014. In a pre-emptive appraisal of the report, stakeholders spoke on what they think should be done to eliminate the dichotomy between polytechnic graduates and their university counterparts. They also spoke on how to remove the discriminatory policies in public service which had perpetually limited career ambitions of polytechnic graduates. The Vice-Principal, Queensland Academy in Lagos, Tayo David, believed that even though the objective behind each programme was somewhat different, there should not be a disparity between HND and bachelor certificates because they were meant to complement each other for the socio-technological development of the country. He said: “We need to get the objective of polytechnic and university education before an attempt can be made to mend whatever differences that exist. “Polytechnic is meant to enhance technological development. “For instance, someone who has gone to the polytechnic to read engineering will be expected to be a technologist while a university graduate is an engineer. That is the structure. “Somebody who is outstanding technologically should go to the polytechnic where you have more practical to do, while a person who has cognitive knowledge and intelligence to be a teacher or lecturer should go to the university.

Education Minister, Ibrahim Shekarau

Adenekan

Okoh

Samson

“Now when it comes to doing the job in an establishment, an engineering graduate from the university is expected to come up with the blueprint while the technologist is expected to take the blueprint and make use of technicians to get the job done. “You can see that university education is meant for those with high cognition while the polytechnic is meant for those with psychomotor and creative skills. The polytechnic education is meant to complement the university education.” But, according to him, the focus has shifted because there is no opening in the university. He added: “Even those with cognitive skill have gone to find a place in the polytechnic. So, I don’t want to believe that university education should be rated higher than the polytechnic’s. “If only the government will refer and adhere to the initial establishment objectives, you will find out that the graduates from those schools are very needful in the socio-technological development of our nation.

“The notion that university graduates are to fashion out blueprint for tasks while their polytechnic counterparts are to implement the blue print is what had discreetly placed the university graduates above the polytechnic graduates. “The gap between the two can be closed up only if the polytechnic will be taken back to the objective it was initially meant to serve. Besides, the funds needed to be pumped into polytechnic education have not been pumped. This perhaps may be accountable for one of the problems of polytechnic education.” A biochemist in one of the institutions in Lagos, Sunday Adenekan, also decried the division and marginalisation of HND certificate holders. He said: “The emphasis placed on paper qualification is the bane of development and technological breakthrough in this country. In the United Kingdom, where we claim to borrow polytechnic education pattern from, once a student gets through with the HND programme, he can proceed straight to Masters programme up to the PhD without any barrier. But it is a sharp contrast to what

obtains here, whether in the academia or in the industrial set-up. “What the government can do is to review polytechnic’s curricular in correlation with modern needs, and ensure that the discriminatory policies that had created a division between HND and degree holders are removed in totality, and create an atmosphere which will enhance the actualisation of individual’s dream in every sphere.” The Chief Executive Officer of Faith Medical Laboratories in Surulere, Lagos, Wale Babatunde, suggested a strategic solution to the problems of discrimination against HND certificate. Babatunde said the protracted situation should first be approached from historic perspective. He said: “The government should expedite action on the report. First, the government should let the public know what the content of the report is. Let it not be that the government will suppress the report if the recommendations in the report are found to be unpleasant with the government. “Getting a solution to the dichotomy problem should start with trying to know what brought about the dichotomy in the first instance. “When you look at this, you will see whether those issues that caused the dichotomy are still there or not. From this point, the necessary steps will be taken. “The second point is that the structural deficiency that brought polytechnic education low should be looked into. If they want the dichotomy to go; they should adjust the O’ level results requirement which is the prerequisites for polytechnic admission to meet the university’s. Thus, those institutions awarding HND should start awarding degrees. “Another thing is to look at the quality of lecturers at the polytechnic. We know the minimum requirement needed to lecture in the university; what is the minimum stipulated for the polytechnic. Again, look at the curricula of the two, are they the same? “The above raised issues are probably the factors that are responsible for the ceiling that had inhibited the career progression of polytechnic graduates. Let those issues be addressed so that the ceiling can be removed. “Their aspirations are legitimate. But it is criminal to discriminate against those who have gone ahead to acquire post-graduate diploma and further certificates. The government should begin the rectifications with its own institutions so that the private institutions can follow suit.”

Putting military on the spot C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4 5

of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, attempted a mutiny against then General Officer Commanding (GOC), Maj. Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed. The soldiers were said to have shot

sporadically at the Maimalari Barracks, in protest against the ambush and killing of many of their colleagues, by suspected insurgents. As if that was not enough, the BBC recently quoted an unnamed soldier of saying that about 40 of them had refused

deployment orders for Gwoza operations. The soldier had alleged that the military high command was not equipping troops with adequate equipment to fight the insurgents; a development, he claimed, exposes the soldiers to be killed “like fowls”.

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Guber race: Imo PDP elders scrap zoning MERIT

Freedom to contest, irrespective of background is good, but Oweri zone will surely put up a fight Steve Uzoechi

OWERRI

lders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State and other stakehold-

ers drawn from the three geopolitical zones in the state have, in a joint consultative meeting on Sunday, resolved to jettison zoning in the 2015 Imo governorship race. The meeting, which was held at the Amaifeke, Orlu home of former Governor Achike Udenwa, was in response to the controversy surrounding the Imo Charter of Equity and the sharply divergent views of stakeholders on

Fayemi asks aides to prepare handover notes Adesina Wahab

Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday ordered his commissioners, special advisers and other political appointees serving in his administration to start preparing their handover notes. The governor gave the order during the inaugural meeting of a 19-member transition committee he named on Sunday. The committee comprises members from both the government as well as those from the governor-elect Mr. Ayodele Fayose. Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi, who stood in for the governor at the inaugural meeting, said the transition committee has become necessary to ensure a smooth hand over from the outgoing government to the incoming one. Besides, he said the transition committee

would also facilitate information about what is needed to be known, concerning facts and figures in respect to the activities of the outgoing government, so as to avoid outright falsehood or misrepresentation of facts. Owolabi, who doubles as chairman of the committee, however, said actions and decisions would continue to be taken by the outgoing government till its very last day in office. “There cannot be a vacuum in governance and it must be known that the present government has a mandate of four years during which it is expected to provide leadership without fail,” he said. The SSG told the committee that there were a total of 193 ministries, parastatals and agencies in the state, adding that Fayose’s nominees in the committee would be free to ask questions or seek clarification in areas not clear to them.

Cleric calls for divine mercy Adesina Wahab

Ado-Ekiti

ith the upsurge in W insurgency in the northern part of the

country and the tension being generated as the nation prepares for the 2015 general elections, Nigerians have been urged to earnestly seek God's mercy for the country to scale impediments on its path. Giving the advice on Sunday, a cleric, Prophet Sam Olu-Alo, said the nation is in a precarious situation and that the only solution was to seek God's intervention through prayers. Olu-Alo, a resident prophet at the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Aanu, Erio-Ekiti, said the upsurge in insurgency in recent times could not be divorced from the preparations for next year's general

elections by various interest groups across the country. He said he was instructed by God to tell the people of the country to seek God's face in prayers, adding that Nigeria was standing precariously as the 2015 general elections approach. “Nigerians must urgently seek the face of God because the signs by Boko Haram and the 2015 elections are ominous and only God can show mercy to our country. This has nothing to do with religion, or tribe,” he said. The cleric added that the issue at stake was also beyond political leaning as the corporate existence of the country was at stake and that without the country being one, the actualisation of any individual dreams could be in jeopardy.

the zoning of the 2015 governorship race in the state. The PDP elders also resolved that the party will concentrate on finding a credible candidate that will fly the party’s flag for the Imo governorship race. Commenting on the meeting, Chief Ike C. Ibe, a governorship hopeful noted that the meeting was heated, but that members calmly re-

4,287

solved every contentious issue. According to him; “The leaders also resolved that after the elections, the issue of zoning will be discussed again and agreed on for the 2019 elections. For now, the entire Imo has agreed that there will be no more talks of zoning by anyone. Let the most credible candidate emerge.” Frontline governor-

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

ship hopeful under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho (rtd.), however, differed, saying it was only a PDP affair. He added that it was premature to jettison zoning midstream, when all the three geopolitical zones that constitute Imo State were yet to benefit from the accord. According to Ihenacho, Orlu zone has

-11.75%

The growth rate of air travel passengers of Calabar airport (domestic wing) (20122013) Source: National Bureau of Statistics

been in power for eight years through Chief Achike Udenwa (19992007), Okigwe zone took its turn through Chief Ikedi Ohakim (2007-2011) and another Orlu man in the person of Governor Rochas Okorocha is now in power and that means that Orlu has been in power for 12 out of our 16 years of democratic experience while Owerri zone is yet to serve a single term.

The sex ratio of women to 100 men (international migrants) in Chad in 2010. Source: Un.org

A cross-section of Nigeria Union of Pensioners at the Lagos State Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, protesting the plight of NDA, ECN,NEPA/ PHCN pensioners in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

PDP loses 2,000 members in Ikimi's stronghold

Kogi PDP boss berates defectors

Cajetan Mmuta

ogi State Chairman Kocratic of the Peoples DemParty (PDP),

BENIN

he rank of the Peoples T(PDP) Democratic Party in Edo State have been depleted with the party’s loss of over two thousand members to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Igueben Local Government of the state. Igueben is the political stronghold of Chief Tom Ikimi, who recently dumped the APC for the PDP. Gover nor Adams Oshiomhole, who received the defectors led by Eronmosele Aisabor, said at the weekend that his administration has upgraded the College of Education, Igueben, to a campus of the University of Education, Ekiadolor. Oshiomhole said: “I have come to assure you, in the next two years and half of my stewardship, there is more good news

for the people of Igueben. The future of our state would be replaced from the politics of indecency to a politics of educating our people. That is why we are building schools. We need teachers who are properly trained to teach our children." He said the state government has “decided to upgrade the College of Education to a degree awarding institution to give people the opportunity of taking teaching jobs by upgrading Ekiadolor to University of Education. By that decision, the Igueben College has become a campus of the University of Education. “I have not spent eight years, only six and by the time I have spent eight years, I would do more. So don’t listen to them when they tell you to decamp to a party that has failed to produce any meaningful development in years,” he said.

Muhammad Bashir

Lokoja

Comrade Hassan Salau, yesterday berated the defection of prominent members of the ruling party to the opposition party, calling it ingratitude. The PDP chairman in a telephone conversation with journalists added that the ruling party is a big ocean that does not feel any setback no matter the volume of water taken from it. Some prominent members of the PDP and two former Speakers of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Clarence Olafemi and Alhaji Abdullahi Belle, on Sunday dumped the ruling party and declared their membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). But Salau said those that defected to the APC have benefited im-

mensely from the ruling party, adding that the party made them what they are today. “Well I wish them well, but they should as well remember that they have dined and wined with the PDP, and of course the party made them relevant in the state. So, if they want to be ungrateful, then I wish them luck. “But we were not perturbed, we always win and when we are winning, these people never contributed to our victory. I expect them to be patient and remain in the party instead committing the ungodly act they call decamping,” he added. Others who defected to the APC include two members of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Saidu Akawu Salihu, Hon. Jamiu Siaka, both representing Kogi and Okehi constituencies and former Nigeria Ambassador to Bostwana, Hon. Issac Onu, respectively.

48 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Synagogue: Kalu, Agbaje commiserate with families of victims Camillus Nnaji

ormer Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has called for a thorough investigation into the root cause of the collapse of a sixstorey building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) founded by Pastor T.B Joshua. The sad event which has so far claimed nearly fifty lives has left over 130 others critically injured. As contained in an international press statement made available to New Telegraph, on Monday by Kalu’s in-

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ternational spokesperson, Sam Amsterdam, said the religious house which served and will continue to serve worshippers across the globe as a rallying point in the worship of God, will continue to serve as a place of solemn worship and the meeting point of people from diverse cultures. The Statement reads in part: “I have the personal pleasure of visiting Pastor Joshua very recently and can attest that the religious domicile of which he founded served and no doubt will continue to serve as a safe haven for Ni-

The total number of refugees in Romania at the beginning of 2010. Source: Blatantworld.com

geria’s diverse multitude of citizens, those from all walks of life. Distinct ethnicity, cultures, tribal allegiances and creeds were and will be again granted a place of solemn worship, to together engage in joyful celebration in the workings of the Lord”. While commiserating with families that have lost their beloved ones to the tragedy and speedy recovery to the injured, Kalu insists on thorough and swift investigation on the root cause. “While the root cause of the collapse has yet to be determined, should any

2,400

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions of South Sudan in 2010. Source: Itu.int

foul play be found as has been suggested, let the perpetrators be brought to justice swiftly and accordingly”, he declared. The collapsed structure which serves as a guest house for foreigners collapsed on Friday at about 12:45pm. Also, a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the Lagos, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has expressed sorrow over the death of victims of the collapsed building. Agbaje called for a fullscale investigation into the controversial collapse of the church.

103

The sex ratio of women to 100 men in Eritrea in 2012. Source: Un.org

While expressing sympathy to the founder of the Synagogue Church, Prophet Temitope Joshua over the victims of the collapsed building, Agbaje called on Lagos and federal governments to investi-

gate the circumstances surrounding the incident. He prayed that God should console the bereaved families, and also that the church would never again experience such a tragedy.

TAN: APC can't stop Jonathan Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

he Transformation T(TAN) Agenda of Nigeria has challenged the

All Progressive Congress (APC) to counter its publicised achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan administration in the past three years if the claims are false. The group also said that its zonal rallies have come to stay, adding that "those who don’t like them just have to live with them for the sake of their sanity and move on to other, hopefully, noble political pursuits". Reacting to a statement credited to the publicity secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, TAN director of communication and strategy, Dr. Udenta

Udenta said a million hatefilled words cannot deter the group from bringing democracy closer to the people through robust conversation and dialogue that increase political understanding and participation. According to Udenta, Nigeria’s postcolonial democratic infrastructure, just as in the developed liberal democracies of Europe and the USA, recognizes the legitimate existence of independent political pressure groups that are supportive of the varied political interests operating in established political geographies. He said Lai Mohammed and the APC have made so much noise about the sources of TAN’s financing without providing evidence to back up the claims.

Ebola scare envelopes Edo communities Joe Obende WARRI

Abu, 34, susEedmmanuel pected to have contractEbola haemorrhagic

A cross-section of Eke-Awka Market Women, protesting the imposition of a caretaker committee chairman on the market by the Awka South Amalgamated Traders Association Union (ASMATU) in Awka…yesterday

Crisis worsens over church demolition Tony Okafor AWKA

crisis between NkTtyhewelle-Ezunaka communiin Anambra state and the Anglicans over the demolition in August of Ebenezer Anglican Church some weeks back by unknown persons has worsened. Yesterday the community threatened bloodbath if the church fails to leave the premises forthwith. Addressing the press at Nkwelle-Ezunaka, the President-General of the community, Elder Chris Eluemuno said the church had forced the community to the wall with lies and falsehood over the ownership of the premises. "We can no longer keep quiet and watch thieves take over our possession", he fumed. He vowed that the Anglicans must be chased away from the Oyulu-Oze primary school in peace or in war. "The Anglicans have

shown recklessness, indiscipline and falsehood. Their attitude can be likened to a thief who prayed to God to kill his victim. Can God answer such prayer? "If they don't want to leave that premises in peace then they should be ready to see blood because these Anglicans are liars, the feed their congregation with all manner of lies about the ownership of the premises”, he stated. Eluemuno who brandished various documents to demonstrate that the premises belonged to the community said the Anglicans applied in 1990 through the head teacher of the school then to use the Community Primary school for a temporary place of worship. He said he would personally institute a court case against the church for maligning his person over the demolition of the church which he said the church claimed he (Elue-

muno) supervised by 1am on 10th of August. But the Anglican Archbishop of Diocese on the Niger, Most Reverend Christian Efobi, had last week vowed that they must resist every attempt to eject them from the premises, stressing that the church was the bona fide owner of the premises.

The state Governor, Willie Obiano had at the wake of the crisis set up a four-man special committee headed by the deputy governor of the state, Nkem Okeke to investigate the matter. New Telegraph learnt that the committee submitted its report to the governor last week.

fever, has died vomiting blood in Igarra, headquarters of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. Abu, had accompanied the body of a relation from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, who had died of undisclosed ailment to a neighbouring village, Ojirami. He had suddenly taking ill and started vomiting blood during the wake keep. He was rushed to a private hospital, Ifejola Specialist Medical Centre in Orere quarters of Igarra. at 2.00am on Sunday. Given the volume of blood he vomited and other vital signs, Dr. Andrew Dongo recommended immediate transfusion but

those who rushed him there were not ready to comply with the doctor’s instruction. They rather took him away. New Telegraph gathered that he was later rushed to Irrhua Specialist Hospital where he died. It could, however, not be established if the deceased arrived Irrhua alive or he had been brought in dead. As result of this, residents of the community became agitated on learning that a man suffering from suspected Ebola had been rushed to a hospital and he died, more so, since the deceased were vomiting blood. Dr. Dongo said Abu was their known patient who was a chronic alcoholic. He said he had been warned not to take even a drop of alcohol as he already had problems with his liver but he would not listen.

New Telegraph's correspondent loses brother ew Telegraph's corSpeaking for the family, Mrs. Abisetu Johnson, NDelta respondent in Warri, Mr. James Yakubu (Acho- Mallama Ayishatu SuleiState, Joe Jubril ri) Obende, said the family man, Mrs. Josephine OtaObende, has lost his elder brother, Chief David Saibu Obende. He died of cardiac related complications. He was 71. Obende died over the weekend in a private specialist hospital in Benin City, the Edo State capital. His remains have since been deposited at the morgue of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

would soon make public, his burial arrangements in Igarra, headquarters of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. The deceased is survived by his widow, Mrs. Florence Jenebu Obende, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces and children who include Chief Okomayin Gerigeri, Yakubu, Mohammed, Joe, Abdul, Senator Domingo,

ru and Mrs. Tina Alabi. Obende started his working career in Lagos with the Nigerian Security and Minting Company Limited from where he retired into private haulage business. He went into politics in the 70s. He was a staunch Awoist who was a close ally of the former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

Obende

NEWS 49

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

2015: Moves to exclude Ogoni faulted Muhammad Bashir

Lokoja

he Ijaw Justice Forum Tmoves (IJF) has kicked against by the Rivers Lead-

ership Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF) to search for a governorship candidate to succeed Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, without considering the Ogoni. The group said the move was not in line with

historical realities, considering that some of the areas being considered by RIVLEAF had produced people in leadership positions in the past. IJF President, Comrade Tom Douglas, stated this in a statement while reacting to comments by RIVLEAF, he said the riverine areas of Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni, have been in leadership position for many years in the senatorial district.

Ndoma-Egba spends N73m on scholarship Clement James A cross-section of supporters of GIFT 2015 as they call on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare to run for a second term in Abuja…at the weekend

Calabar

Registration fees: NYSC defends action

Leader, Victor NdoSthatenate ma-Egba has disclosed he has so far spent about

Mojeed Alabi he National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has defended its decision to charge its candidates N4,000 for the online registration exercise, saying the benefits accruable to the candidates are far more than the amount being charged. The Corps’ Director of Press and Public Relations, Mrs. Olubunmi Aderibigbe, in a press statement issued yesterday, stated that the initiative was introduced to address the security

challenges in some states of the federation and the cumbersome process of collection of call-up letters in most institutions by making the process easier and complacent to the 21st century. She said as an accountable and transparent institution, “it is important to state that the initiative which actually started in the second quarter of last year followed all the rules with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) involved

in all the processes that led to contracting SIDMACH Technologies to undertake the following services for the NYSC.” She said the company was commissioned to supply and install ICT infrastructure at the NYSC directorate headquarters, 37 NYSC state secretariats, 37 NYSC orientation camps, and the 774 NYSC local government area offices. “The company will provide application and database servers; backup services for the NYSC integrated system and provision of web-based

NYSC integrated system software covering the prospective corps members registration, mobilization, deployment as well the provision of web-based finger print software interface for verification.” NYSC further disclosed that the initiative was optional and that the prospective corps members unwilling to go online have the choice of approaching their schools to get hard copies of the their letters and proceed to the orientation camps for physical registration.

2015: Oyo LP gets new exco Oyo CJ releases 32 prison inmates Sola Adeyemo

Ibadan

yo State chapter of the Oterday Labour Party (LP) yesput in place new ex-

ecutive to steer the affairs of the party ahead of 2015 elections. The 21-member executive formed through voice vote has Mr. Gbenga Olayemi as chairman, Mr. Gbenga Oyekola, as the Secretary, while Alhaji

Razak Folorunso, emerged the public relations officer. The party's new chairman, in his acceptance speech, promised an open door policy, describing his election as a challenge to put in more efforts in the activities of the party. The former Chairman, Alhaji Bashiru Apapa, urged party members to rally round the new executive with a view to putting it firmly on ground.

‘Why I dumped Amosun’s govt' Special Adviser Fonormer to Ogun State Governor Environment and Spe-

cial Duties, Mrs. Lanre Abimbola Balogun, yesterday said she resigned her appointment from Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s government because the governor was running the state like a family entity. Balogun, who said her resignation shocked the government, also hinted that other aggrieved top members of the state executive council would soon

dump the All Progressives Congress (APC). She spoke yesterday while speaking with journalists after she and others from the APC and the Labour Party (LP) defected to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the party stakeholders’ meeting held at Goodluck Jonathan Auditorium, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. Speaking further, she said: “I had thought the tempo at which the government started at inception would be sustained."

Sola Adeyemo

Ibadan

hirty-two awaiting trial TPrison, inmates of the Federal Agodi, Ibadan in

Oyo State yesterday regained their freedom courtesy of the Acting Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Muktar Abimbola, who visited the prison. The chief judge also ordered the transfer of an inmate, Mayowa Durojaye, to the psychiatric section of the Adeoyo State Hospi-

tal to ascertain his mental state instead of keeping him perpetually in prison custody. According Abimbola, the step taken was necessary to avoid abnormal congestion of the prison. In his speech, the chief judge said the act of decongesting the prison was one of the essential functions of the Administration of Justice Commission set up at the federal level and for each state of the federation.

PDP rejects more polling units Tony Okafor

Awka

Democratic AinPeoples Party ( PDP) stalwart Anambra State, Chief

Ugochukwu Okeke, has decried the creation of additional polling units by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accusing the commission's National Chairman, Attahiru Jega, of bias. INEC had earlier last week announced the ap-

proval of additional polling units for some parts of the country, a move which drew the condemnation of most people, especially from the southern part the country. Okeke, who contested the November 16, 2013 governorship primaries under the platform of the PDP, said INEC had by that development favoured the northern part of the country to the detriment of the south in the 2015 general election.

Stakeholders hail Anambra PDP’s non-interference policy hepromisebytheleadership TParty of the Peoples Democratic (PDP)inAnambraState

to conduct transparent congresses and primaries at all levels has been described as the beginning of a new phase

forthe party. A senatorial aspirant of the party in Anambra Central senatorial zone, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo said in Awka yesterday that "it is reassuring and heart warm-

ing that the party has taken this stand. It is a welcome development that the party has come out to spell this out. It will encourage all aspirants and put the party in a good stead in terms of morals in

the 2015 election. At a meeting to update members ahead of the congresses, the chairman of the party, said the "primaries will be peaceful and transparent.

N73 million on his scholarship programme since he started it officially in 2003. He made the disclosure on Monday in Calabar dur-

ing a ceremony preceding the award of the 2014 scholarship to 42 indigent students of higher institutions across the country. He said although he started giving scholarship to needy students in 1980, he made the programme formal when he became a Senator in 2003.

Insurgency: Activist blames northern elite Tony Anichebe

Uyo

rights activist Aofhuman and Executive Director Peoples Right to Life,

Development Foundation, Mr. Ifot Nathaniel Ifot, has blamed Northern elites for master-minding and sponsoring the activities of the insurgents in the North East.

Ifot called on them to quickly put to an end the incessant killings and bloodletting perpetrated by the Boko Haram. Speaking yesterday to journalists in Uyo, he said the northern elites, the retired military personnel, the retired police officers are all involved in sponsoring the activities of the Boko Haram.

Aspirant pledges to tackle power outage Dominic Adewole

ASABA

governorship hopeful in AAmechi Delta state, Prof. Victor Izegbu, has vowed

to end incessant power outage currently bedeviling the oil rich state by 2015. Izegbu, a Professor of Urological Surgery, who said he has the masterkey to the epileptic power

supply since the state was created over 23 years ago, urged the people of the state to be patient till he unfolds his blueprint for the development of the state. The contender who hails from Oshimili South Local Government of the state said “there will be power summit immediately I assume office.”

Ogun empowers 250 indigents ore than 250 less M privileged people in Ogun Waterside Local

Government area of Ogun State including police officers' wives, market men and women, community leaders, hunters, artisans, religious bodies, farmers, widows and others have benefited from the third phase of the State Community Empowerment

programme 2014. The prog ramme, which was initiated by the Wife of the State Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, was aimed at creating opportunities for the less privileged to participate in the economy and improve their earning potentials in order to assist their families fight their way out of poverty.

JAMB: Ojerinde seeks support for CBT centres Dan Atori

MINNA

he Registrar and Chief TMatriculation Executive of Joint Board

(JAMB). Prof. 'Dibu Ojerinde, has called on Nigerians to partner with the Board in ensuring that enough Computer Based Test (CBT) centres are established to accom-

modate all candidates in the 2015 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. Ojerinde made the call yesterday at the 2nd Technical Committee meeting on 2014/2015 Admissions to Degree, Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and National Diploma (ND) and Awarding Institutions held in Minna.

50 WORLD | NEWS

ritish Prime Minister David Cameron used his last visit to Scotland before a historic independence referendum this week to implore Scots to remain part of the United Kingdom, warning yesterday that a breakaway vote would be irreversible. With opinion polls suggesting the referendum remains too close to call, Cameron, the leader of the ruling Conservative party, which draws most of its support from England, pleaded with voters not to use the referendum as a protest vote. "There's no going back from this. No re-run. If Scotland votes 'yes' the UK will split and

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Cameron: Vote for independence will be a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;painful divorce' we will go our separate ways forever," he told an audience packed with Conservative party supporters in Aberdeen, the center of Scotland's oil industry. "Don't think: I'm frustrated with politics right now, so I'll walk out the door. If you don't like me I won't be here forever. If you don't like this government it won't last forever. But if you leave the UK that will be forever." Cameron's trip was a lastditch effort to try to persuade Scotland's many undecided

voters to reject independence. Up to 500,000 people out of more than 4 million registered voters are estimated to be unsure how they will vote. Campaigning in Scotland is fraught with difficulty for Cameron, whose right-leaning party is unpopular with Scots who have traditionally voted for the left-leaning opposition Labour party and harbor bitter memories of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher's 1979-1990 stint in

power. Cameron's Conservatives have only one of 59 British parliamentary seats in Scotland, and the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) has elbowed Labour aside in recent years to emerge as the dominant political force. Cameron, his voice at times faltering with emotion, spoke after a video was shown extolling British achievements and

Muslim Brotherhood leader jailed for life

ohamed Badie, top leader of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, was sentenced to life in jail along with 14 others yesterday on charges of murder and inciting violence during clashes near Cairo last year. The session had been summoned for witness statements but the judge surprised journalists and others present by issuing a verdict. Badie, 71, is among hundreds of Brotherhood members already sentenced to death in mass trials that have drawn criticism from Western governments and human rights groups. The death sentences are subject to appeal. In what is known as the Bahr al-Azam case, Badie and the other defendants were convicted of the murder of five people and the attempted murder of 100 others during violence that broke out in

Alistair Darling,the leader of the campaign to keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom,campaigns in Edinburgh

As many as 700 migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean

ore than 700 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East may have drowned in the latest shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, bringing the death toll this year to almost 3,000, the International Organization for Migration said yesterday. In the worst incident, as many as 500 migrants are believed to have died after traffickers rammed their ship off Malta's coast last week, an event that only came to light this weekend in testimony from two of the nine survivors. The survivors said the traffickers ordered the migrants to change vessels in the middle of the Mediterranean. The migrants refused, leading to a confrontation that ended when traffickers rammed the ship carrying the migrants, IOM spokes-

woman Christiane Berthiaume told Reuters in Geneva. "Some 500 people were on board - Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians and Sudanese. They were trying to reach Europe," Berthiaume said. "That means that 700 people perished at sea these last days in the Mediterranean, the deadliest incidents in the space of a few days," she said. The vessel had set off on Saturday, Sept 6 from Damiette, Egypt, and sank off Malta's coast on Sept 10th, she said. The U.N. refugee agency also learned of the shipwreck, but said its information was the wreck occurred Friday. "In all, nine people survived and were picked up boats," Berthiaume said. IOM officials interviewed two Palestinian survivors who were taken to Sicily, Italy, while

other survivors were taken to Malta and to Crete, Greece, Berthiaume said. Four days later, another ship packed with up to 250 African emigrants sank off the Libyan coast, and most of them are feared dead, a spokesman for the Libyan navy said late Sunday. Some 26 people survived. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said the situation in the Mediterranean was unclear and it was trying to get confirmation of five shipwrecks in all. "At least 500 people have died or are missing in the last three days", UNHCR spokesman Francis Markus said in an email. "It was without any doubt the deadliest weekend ever in the Mediterranean," Carlotta Sami of the UNHCR said.

some of the most prominent figures of British history from Winston Churchill to Alexander Fleming, a Scot who discovered penicillin. "Independence would not be a trial separation. It would be a painful divorce," Cameron said, standing in front of a giant Union Jack flag and a poster saying "Lets stick together". "Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay."

Giza on July 15, 2013. Then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 3, 2013 after protests against his rule. Egyptian authorities have since arrested thousands of Brotherhood supporters, sentencing hundreds to death or long prison sentences, while Egypt's oldest Islamist movement has been banned and designated a terrorist organization. Sisi, who went on to win a presidential election, vowed in his campaign that the Brotherhood, once among Egypt's most formidable political movements, would cease to exist under him. Mursi, freely elected in 2012, is also on trial on a variety of charges including inciting violence and conspiring with a foreign power, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Breakthrough' in Afghan election dispute

fghanistan's disputed presidential election inched towards a possible conclusion yesterday with a senior government official hailing a "breakthrough" in talks between the two candidates, who both claim to have won the vote. Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have been wrangled over a power-sharing deal after the June 14 election was engulfed in allegations of massive fraud that have threatened to spark instability as NATO troops pull out of the country. "This is a breakthrough, there has been progress luckily," Aimal Faizi, spokesman for outgoing President Hamid Karzai, told AFP after negotiations between the rivals yesterday. "Soon they will put all these points in a document that will be signed in the presence of the president and other prominent Afghan figures," he said.

Ghani, who is widely tipped to emerge as president, won the run-off election according to preliminary results, but Abdullah has consistently said he was the victim of state-backed ballotrigging. Faizi declined to give details of the agreement, which both campaign teams have previously said would hinge on the power held by a new chief executive officer (CEO), who would be nominated by the election loser. "From our understanding, there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any issues left (undecided), but the campaigns will have to answer details on that," Faizi said. The stand-off has threatened to wreck hopes that the billiondollar US-led military and civilian aid effort since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 would leave Afghanistan as a democratic country. "I hope they will publicly announce the agreement tomorrow," Ghani's spokesman Faizullah Zaki told AFP.

SPORT

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ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS

kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

tuesday, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

That Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is currently undefeated as a professional and is a fivedivision world champion, having won ten world titles and championship in four different weight classes

Aubrey vows to knock out Samuel Peter Ifeanyi Ibeh

R Peter

on “Iceman” Aubrey has promised to inflict a knockout defeat on former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, Samuel Peter, when both boxers take to the ring on September 27 at the OKC Downtown Airpark in Oklahoma City, USA. Aubrey, a former ice hockey player, has a fight record of 12 wins

and three losses, with all of his victories coming via knockouts. And he has now set his sights on making the vastly experienced Nigerian-born Peter, who has a fight record of 34 wins and five losses with 27 knockouts, his 13th victim. “He’s got more experience,” admitted Aubrey, “but I’ve been in hundreds of brawls in my lifetime. “I’m not intimidated by him.

He’s the better boxer, but I’m the better brawler and that’s what kind of fight it’s going to be.” He added: “I’ve already got 12 knockouts in the ring and Samuel Peter is going to be my lucky number 13.” On his part, Peter, who has not stepped into the ring since losing to Finland’s Robert Helenius in April 2011, is just happy to be back in boxing.

“I am happy to be back in boxing,” said Peter. “I will dedicate myself to winning the heavyweight championship once again. “I’m ready to knock out anyone who stands in my way,” added Peter, who was reportedly tinkering with the idea of retiring following that painful knockout loss to Helenius, a loss that followed an earlier knockout defeat to Vladimir Klitschko.

AFCON qualifiers:

Eagles will not lose again –Ejide

Ajibade Olusesan

uper Eagles vice captain, Austin Ejide, has vowed that Nigeria will not lose any of their remaining four matches in the 2015 Africa Nations Cup qualifiers. The African champions opened their campaign in the worst possible way, after collecting just one point from two matches, leaving them in third position in group A of the qualifying series. They surrendered to a 3-2 loss to Congo Brazzaville in Calabar on Match Day One and could only manage a goalless draw against South Africa in Cape Town in their second game. But the goalkeeper said that the players were sorry for the outcome of the two matches and promised that they would work harder to get good results in their remaining games. He said they have realised how disappointed Nigerians are with their performance and have vowed to redeem their image. “We could not believe the results that we got in those two games. Our first match was more of a surprise because we could not believe the determination with which Congo played. They wanted to win and they went all out

for it. It is not that we did not want to win too, we tried our best but it was just not enough. We thought we could win in South Africa. We really worked hard and everybody can see that our performance was a lot better than our first game,” he said. “We can still qualify despite these results. After the games we had a sober reflection and held a meeting where It was agreed that we must win all o u r remaini n g matches. It is not going to be easy but we can make it, we are the African champions and we have to prove it.” The team plays its next match against Sudan in October. Eagles will travel to Omdurman for the first leg and play the second leg few days later in Nigeria.

Ejide

Ronaldo failed me in the Champions League –Mourinho

} P 53

SPORT

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

New NFF Sport Trending board to determine Keshi’s fate

TWITTER |@NTelegraphSport

Bright Dike That’s pretty cool John Travolta right outside my build@bbright19 ing, nice. Jonathan akpoborie There is an Angel in devils

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Mario Balotelli Come on LIVERPOOL!!!!!!! come on guys. @FinallyMario

Emmanuel Tobi

T Mikel in action

Babangida: Mikel should change roles

ormer Nigeria international Tijani Babangida has called for a change of positions for Chelsea’s Obi Mikel in the Super Eagles if they are to get the best out of him. Mikel has been playing an advanced midfield role for Nigeria ever since he made his debut in a friendly against Libya in 2006, thanks to his stellar showings in that role during his U17 and U20 days. But he seems to have lost that attacking spark since his move to Chelsea, and Babangida thinks it’s time the Eagles’ coach started playing him in a more familiar role. “I think we should start playing him in a more familiar role. The role he plays at Chelsea, which is in the holding midfield position,” he said. “He doesn’t seem to be

able to function effectively in a play-making role as he used to, so maybe he should get a more familiar role.” Mikel has been hugely criticised in Nigeria for his often lethargic performances and failure to offer any creative spark, which even forced his Eagles teammate, Nosa Igiebor, to come to his defence. “It seems best at this point to have him play in holding midfield. Maybe we’ll get the best out of him there,” he opined.

he incoming board of the Nigeria Football Federation has been saddled with the responsibility of deciding to either retain or sack Stephen Keshi following the dismal performance of the Super Eagles in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers. Keshi agreed to renew his contract and handled the Super Eagles’ first two matches in the competition without a new deal after the intervention of Nigeria’s sports minister, Tammy Danagogo, but the leadership tussle in the NFF stalled the negotiation process. The NFF election has been slated for September 30, 10 days before Nigeria’s match against Sudan as the Eagles are rooted third in the group with only one point from two games behind Congo and South Africa on six and four points. Nigeria will play Sudan in Omdurman in continuation of the qualifiers on October 11, before the returnleg in Calabar on October

15. According to an official who pleaded anonymity, “It is only fair that the new NFF leadership be saddled with the responsibility of deciding the fate of Keshi. “It could well be they would want to have a new man in charge of the national team. It is therefore best they take the decision on a coach for the Super Eagles, the source said.” Keshi, who has frequently locked horns with his superiors said after Nigeria’s last match against South Africa that his future was up in the air. “I was just brought in to help manage these two games. We have finished them now, so we’ll see what happens. If we come to an agreement, yes, I’ll stay. If not, I’ll depart,” he said. Similarly, Patrick Omorodion, spokesman for Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo said; “It is up to the NFF to decide who handles the Eagles. The minister only requested that Keshi should handle the two games, since there was a vacuum.”

NFF searches for new kit sponsors Comfort Chukwu Abuja

igeria Football Federation is searching for a new kit sponsors for the national teams, New Telegraph has learnt. A reliable source told our correspondent that the current sponsor, Addidas, had

cited a breach of the contract it signed with NFF and is ready to pull out of the deal. The source said the kit company was particularly unhappy after Super Eagles players filed out in its jersey in the Nations Cup qualifying match against DR Congo, but wore Nike’s boots.

“Addidas asked the NFF to explain how the Super Eagles wore Adidas Jersey with Nike boots for the match,” the source said. The kit company, according to our source, is not also happy about the recent performance of the Super Eagles, especially in in AFCON qualifiers.

Eniola Aluko So strange seeing Frank Lampard in a Man City shirt! Great to see he’s still playing in the Prem though #Legend @EniAlu John Ogu Debut Game ended 1-1 today..Good to be on the field for 90min..The Fans were Amazing..Yalla Hapoel @ogujohnugo Kanu Nwankwo Check out who I saw while he was in Nigeria. My good friend Claude Leroy. @papilokanu Ideye Brown I am my brothers keeper,are you? @OfficialIdeye LeBron James Man time flies! Seems like it was yesterday when we tied those knots. Been a full day of celebrating our 1 Year Anniversary. Finishing up at dinner. Thank u everyone for all the well wishes and blessing. @KingJames kenneth omeruo Happy Birthday My bro.. I Love You.. I wish you happiness and success on your Career and Hope You excel more than I will. Happy birthday Lucky Omeruo. @omeruo22

Pelican Stars finally release Ihezuo, Edoho Charles Ogundiya

elican Stars FC of Calabar have finally granted permission to the duo of Chiwendu Ihezuo and Blessing Edoho to join up with the national team ahead of preparations for the upcoming African Women Championship. The club had earlier planned on keeping both players until after the club’s national league match in Osogbo against Osun Babes on Wednesday. But following the intervention of the Cross Rivers State Sports Commissioner, Patrick Ugbe, both players are now available for the national team, a situation that has not been received in good faith by the club’s management. In an interview with New Telegraph, the club’s team manager, Ani Ita, said: “They have not been fair to us at all. Look at Ihezuo, she has featured for us in just three matches this season, and we are the ones paying her salary. “Since the beginning of the year, it has been from one national team to another for her. We are not happy at all.”

Nigerian coaches pick players on sentiments –Babayaro F ormer Nigeria international Emmanuel Babayaro has declared that no Nigerian coach is good enough to handle the Super Eagles due to their insincerity in players’ selection. Babayaro said that he was never convinced from the outset that Stephen Keshi was the right man for the Eagles job. “I don’t think Keshi is the

man for the job. I never thought any Nigerian coach is the right person for the Eagles. And note this, it has nothing to do with their ability as coaches. As coaches they may be terrific, but I have always maintained, an average Nigerian myself inclusive, is very sentimental and football and sentiments don’t go together.

“That is why we have this situation where Keshi never invites the best hands, for one sentimental reason or the other. On a good day, somebody else without sentiments would have invited every good player.” “We have to bring the players. They will create competition which at the end of the day makes every player better.”

Uche

SPORT | EURO FOOTBALL

Sanctity of Truth

Dortmund, Arsenal renew rivalry

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

orussia Dortmund and Arsenal will renew acquaintances when the Champions’ League group stage begins on Tuesday. The two sides have been drawn in the same group for the second season in succession, with both having qualified for the knockout stages

last term. Aaron Ramsey scored the only goal as Arsenal won in Dortmund last season after the Bundesliga club had claimed a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in October. The defeat at Signal Iduna Park was Dortmund’s first at home against an English opponent in European com-

Inzaghi hails Milan reaction in thriller

Inzaghi

C Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi hailed the character of his side after seeing them edge out Parma in a nine-goal thriller on Sunday - but believes they will need a “miracle” to beat three-time defending champions Juventus next weekend. Milan’s 5-4 win at the Ennio Tardini stadium followed their 3-1 triumph over Lazio and leaves them with a 100 per cent record at the start of the new Serie A season. The victory in Parma also left Milan top of the standings, ahead of Juve and Roma on goals scored. “I am extremely happy with this win,” Inzaghi told the club’s official website. “I was worried that we wouldn’t take home three points from this game but all of my players were fantastic. “It was an open game but I think there can be few doubts that Milan deserved to win.” Inzaghi, who replaced the sacked Clarence Seedorf at the helm of the Rossoneri this summer, believes his team is on the right path.

petition. But Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger says the recent meetings between the sides will have no bearing on this season’s Group D showdowns. “It is not an advantage, it is not a disadvantage, it is just a new fight every time,” the Frenchman told reporters. “They are a different team today and England versus Germany

are always fierce battles.” Arsenal have made an underwhelming start to thePremierLeagueseason, following up their openingday victory over Crystal Palace with three consecutive draws against Everton, Leicester City and reigning champions Manchester City. Dortmund, meanwhile, haveregisteredback-to-back victories after suffering a

shock 2-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their first Bundesliga fixture of the new campaign. ShinjiKagawa-re-signed from Manchester United before the transfer window closed - marked his return to the club with a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win against Freiburg on Saturday, and could come up against former United team-mate Danny Welbeck.

Man Utd stars lavish praise on Di Maria

anchester United duo Juan Mata and Ander Herrera have waxed lyrical over Angel di Maria’s fine home debut in the 4-0 rout of QPR. Di Maria performed in front of the Old Trafford crowd for the first time since completing a British-record transfer of £59.7million from Real Madrid last month and he put in a manof-the-match display against Harry Redknapp’s men on Sunday.

Di Maria

The Argentina international scored the

opening goal and had a hand in the other three from Herrera, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata. Spain international midfielder Mata praised the performance of his teammate and stated that Di Maria has fitted in superbly at United. “It seems [like] he’s been with us for a long time. Angel is a very enthusiastic guy, a great signing. After the game I gave to him the MVP [man of the match] tro-

phy and improvised as his translator for the TV,” Mata said. Herrera, whose goal was his first since joining from Athletic Bilbao, was equally glowing in his appraisal and suggested that Di Maria is among the world’s best players. “Angel is one of the best players in the world,” he told United’s official website. “Manchester United always has to have top players and he is one of the best.”

Champions league fixtures Juventus v Malmo 7.45pm Olympiakos v Atletico 7.45pm Liverpool v Ludogorets 7.45pm Madrid v Basel 7.45pm Benfica v Zenit 7.45pm Monaco v Leverkusen 7.45pm Dortmund v Arsenal 7.45pm Galatasaray v Anderlecht 7.45pm

Rodgers expects Liverpool response

rendan Rodgers is tipping Liverpool to bounce back from the Aston Villa loss when his side host Ludogorets in the Champions League. The Bulgarian champions are on their way to Anfield on Tuesday for the first Champions League fixture under Rodgers and the boss believes his side will bounce back from their surprise 1-0 defeat to Villa at the weekend. Liverpool will again be without Daniel Sturridge for the clash, but Rodgers is confident the side will be in good shape for the busy period to come.

Ronaldo failed me in the Champions League –Mourinho

“Winning the Champions twice as coach has made my career a special one,” the former Porto boss told TVI24. “I’ve been in several semi-finals Rodgers too and some defeats were especially hard to take, such as the goal that did not exist against Liverpool [during his first Chelsea spell] in 2005 or on penalties in 2012 when our firstmmanuel Adebayor stated choice penalty taker [Ronaldo] went that Tottenham must be up first and failed.” more ruthless if they are to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Tottenham twice surrendered a lead in their 2-2 Premier al-Hussein – in the belief League draw at Sunderland last that they breached Fifa’s Saturday , having dominated the ethics code which bans game at the Stadium of Light. members from receiving That result followed a 3-0 reanything of more than verse at home to Liverpool in trivial value. their previous top-flight clash Fifa has moved to conbefore the international break firm that watches were and striker Adebayor believes received but has stated the London club must be clinithat the situation is being cal in order to achieve a toplooked into as part of an four berth. Blatter on-going process.

ose Mourinho has laid the blame for his failure to win the Champions League with Real Madrid at the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo. The coach joined Madrid in 2010 having just won the trophy with Inter, but a third success in the competition eluded the Portuguese as he could only reach three consecutive semi-finals in his three seasons at the Santiago Ronaldo Bernabeu.

FIFA top guns in trouble over wristwatches F

ifa has revealed that it did indeed receive top-of-the-range watches as commemorative gifts from the Brazil FA (CBF), and its ethics committee is currently looking into the episode. The Sunday Times claimed at the weekend that president Sepp Blatter and 26 Fifa executives

were handed watches worth around €20,000 each as part of a welcome bag the CBF had given them upon their arrival at the World Cup this summer. The watches, manufactured by leading Swiss brand Parmigiani, were reported by three executives – Sunil Gulati, Moya Dodd and Prince Ali bin

Adebayor wants ruthless streak

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Sanctity of Truth

Born Antonio Alberto Bastos Pimparel, Sevilla keeper Beto, was given his playing name by a former coach when he was seven. As committed as they come, the demonstrative Portugal custodian started out as a winger but was later switched to goalkeeping duties on account of a lack of pace. He spoke to FIFA.com We’ve seen you cry a couple of times this year, although they were tears of joy after the UEFA Europa League final in Turin. How many times have you watched that game? Beto: A lot! It was the most intense final of my career. It was a memorable day… winning the trophy and dedicating it to my father, who was an example for me. And I was happy to be part of the history of the club. What made it even more special as well, of course, was the fact that we beat a team that is eternal rivals for an ex-Sporting and Porto player like me. We saw you cry again at Brazil 2014, although this time out of frustration. Talk

us through the end of the match against Ghana? They were the toughest three minutes of my career. I injured myself with 80 minutes gone, but I stuck it out because I didn’t want them to take me off. Everything kind of welled up inside of me. I felt angry about not being able to play on and about us not having enough time to turn the situation around. I had all these negative feelings and I just exploded. I burst into tears because I knew Portugal were slipping out of the World Cup and that I’d injured myself and couldn’t carry on. I’d have carried on if I could. I’d have played on without an arm or a

Beto: You can never give up on your dreams leg even! Now that you’ve had time to take stock, why do you think Portugal went home early? It was a massive disappointment for the country and the players. We arrived full of hope and with a very good team, and we had the best player in the world. The last 16 was our first objective, but our opening game (a 4-0 defeat to Germany) had a big psychological impact on us. It was a heavy defeat and in a competition like that you don’t have a lot of time to recover. We’re already looking forward, though, and the past is for museums. Do you follow the Portuguese league? Who will win the title this season? I follow it as much as I can, and I keep an eye on the teams I played for. Porto are still the favourites. Sporting are improving all the time and are closing the gap on Porto and Benfica, the two sides who’ve been fighting for the title in the last few years. The Portuguese league has been attract-

ing a lot of South American players looking to pursue careers in Europe. Yes, it’s almost like a feeder league, with a lot of very rich clubs coming in to snap up players. Portugal is a good springboard because there are three very big clubs in a competitive league. It might not have the same high profile as Europe’s five other big leagues, but it’s a good enough stage for quality players to show what they can do. We saw you and Cristiano Ronaldo give each other a big hug at the end of the UEFA Super Cup. What’s your relationship like? We keep in touch. Ronaldo and I go back a long way. I was at Sporting when he joined the club and we are very close friends. We really

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

have a go at each other during games. For 90 minutes we’re rivals, but it’s all good clean fun. He wants me to do well and I want him to do well. I push him and he pushes me. There’s a lot of mutual respect and admiration in our relationship. You almost turned your back on football at the age of 19. Why was that and what made you change your mind? I’d spent years at Sporting, a big club, but I went on loan to Casa Pia. The clubs had a dispute and I suffered because of it. I wasn’t playing and I wasn’t getting paid. I was far from home and it wasn’t easy. I decided not to renew my contract with Sporting the following year and I made the decision to go and play in the second division.

Who is next for Floyd Mayweather to fight? Amir Khan, 27: The Englishman was at Saturday fight and began campaigning for a Mayweather fight immediately afterward. “I don’t see the speed anymore with him,” Khan said. “Maidana was able to hit him and I’ve got a lot more speed.” Khan also has lost to Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson, although he looked sharp in knocking out Luis Collazo in his previous fight. Now trained by Virgil Hunter, Khan will lure hordes of Brits to Vegas. Whether he’llrockthePayPerView marketisaquestion.Becauseheisn’tmuch of a threat to Mayweather, he is the logical first choice. Miguel Cotto, 33: He lost to Mayweather two years ago, then lost to Austin Trout, and his career was floundering.

Manny

Even though Floyd Mayweather seemed weary and subdued after his unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana on Saturday, he was sharp and commanding when it counted. At 47-0 he has two fights left on his Showtime contract. The line of applicants to get a Mayweather paycheck, and maybe to make history, is chronicled below: Then Freddie Roach took over his training, and Cotto dismantled Sergio Martinez in June. Cotto-Mayweather is PPV candy, but Cotto might be headed for a battle with Canelo Alvarez first. Canelo Alvarez,24: There are 2.2 million reasons for Mayweather to fight Canelo again. That’s the total of PPV buys when Mayweather dominated him last year. Canelo has a gauntlet to run before he gets to Mayweather, since he is likely to face the dangerous James Kirkland and then maybe Cotto. By then Canelo might be better equipped to compete. Danny Garcia, 26: The unbeaten Garcia might be headed for a Manny Pacquiao fight. If those negotiations break down, he looks light and innocuous enough for Mayweather to get interested. In truth Garcia is a sophisticated, fearless boxer who has beaten Khan, Lucas Matthysse, Zab Judah and Erik Morales twice. And Garcia’s un-

predictable dad, Angel, will do his best to heckle Floyd and pump up the subscribers. KeithThurman,24:The top young American welterweight has 24 victories and 21 knockouts, and has wins over tough veterans Diego Chaves, Jesus Soto Karass and Carlos Quintana. He’s well-known to boxing fans but not to the buyers at home. He also might be inexperienced enough to intrigue Mayweather. Manny Pacquiao, 35: There has been smoke before. Is there fire this time? Rumors of secret talks between Showtime and HBO have been fanned by Top Rank chief Bob Arum. “He has an active imagination,” said Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza. But at some point Mayweather and Pacquiao willhavenoviableoptionsexcepteachother. After all these years, it is hoped they won’t need hearing aids to hear the referee’s instructions.

floyd

SPORT 55

Sanctity of Truth

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Ideye needs time, says West Brom boss

Ifeanyi Ibeh

est Bromwich Albion manager, Alan Irvine, believes Brown Ideye needs more time to settle after watching his club’s record signing fail to find the back of the net in last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Everton. Ideye, signed in August for £10 million from Ukrainian club, Dynamo Kiev, made his first Premier League start for the Baggies against Everton but was unable to make the best of the few opportunities that came his way during the encounter. Instead it was former West Brom loan signing, Romelu Lukaku, who shone like a million stars as the Belgian, grabbed one of his side’s two goals to consign the Baggies to their second defeat of the season. Irvine has however rejected unfavourable

Ideye (Left) in action for West Brom

comparisons between Ideye and Everton’s £28 million record signing Lukaku, insisting the Nigerian needs time to settle at West Brom. “There’s a big difference between the two of them, there’s a big difference in terms of the money straight away,” he said, in a report carried by the Birmingham Mail. “There’s

also a big difference in terms of what they’ve had to go through to be at this point. “Romelu, who clearly has the greatest of respect because of the job that he did when he was here, is a player who understands the Premier League, he’s done the pre-season and he spent last season playing for Everton, so he’s not out of

condition, trying to understand what is going on in this country. “He’s extremely settled at Everton, he understands exactly what is required of him, the Everton players understand what is required to play to his strengths as well, so it would be really difficult to judge Brown Ideye in the same way as you would Romelu.”

Coaches mourn Obudu LOC hails former champion, Mayr world title Ntiero’s passage lAustrian clinches fifth ticipated and excelled at the Obudu

he umbrella body of coaches in Nigeria, Nigeria Coaches Association, has lamented the sudden death of former coach of the Super Falcons, Effiong Ntiero. A statement signed by the secretary of the association, Solomon Ogbeide, noted that the death of Ntiero was not only sad and shocking, but has opened a big gap in the development of women football in the country. “He was one of the pioneers of female football in Nigeria. He worked tirelessly to make the Falcons a brand in the world after taking over from Ismaila Mabo. The foundation he laid is what successive coaches either in the Falcons or the junior teams are building on,” the NCA said. The statement lamented that the death of Ntiero has created a void that could take a very long time to fill in the development of women football, especially in the area of coaching.

he Local Organising Committee for the 10th Obudu international mountain race has congratulated Austria’s Andrea Mayr on her victory at the 30th edition of the World Mountain Running Championships held on Sunday in Casette di Massa, Italy. Mayr, who broke the African dominance of the women’s race at the fourth edition of the Obudu international mountain race in 2008 to become the second non-African to win the title after Czech Republic’s Anna Pichrtová, was unstoppable in Italy as she dominated the race from the blast of the gun and won over the 8.4km course in 45:07. With her victory, the 34-year-old medicine graduate became the first runner to clinch five world titles in the discipline and invariably the most successful runner in the history of the event. Patrick Ugbe, vice-chairman of the Obudu LOC and Cross River state Commissioner for Sports hailed the incredible feat performed by Mayr and hints that the Austrian may be one of the top, world class stars that will race for the $50,000 top prize this year at the Obudu Ranch Resort. Ugbe said; “We are always delighted when athletes who have par-

international mountain race also extend their prowess to the world stage. Mayr’s feat is not a surprise to us because we at the LOC have always believed she was destined for greatness,’ said Ugbe adding that the Obudu race has always been a meeting point for some of the greatest mountain runners in the world. ‘We have had such quality legends of the sport like Jonathan Wyatt, a six-time world mountain running champion and eight time winner of the world mountain running grand prix series compete here at the ranch.”

Corruption bane of Nigerian football – TEAP Chairman Charles Ogundiya

hairman of Abuja-based Nigeria National League side, TEAP FC, Achebe Okoro, has revealed that corruption is the biggest problem preventing the growth of football in the country. Speaking in an interview with New Telegraph, Okoro said most people who venture into the business of football only do so for selfish reasons citing, as an example, those currently striving to run the affairs of the Nigeria Football Federation. “What we have now are politicians looking for what to eat. They don’t have anything to offer our football; all they want is to fill their pockets,” said Okoro. “How many of them can put their money into our football? If government decides to pull out of the running of

football in this country, they will all disappear from the scene. “Will they still fight to become the president of the NFF if nothing is coming from the government,” asked Okoro. He called on the Nigerian government to stop financing football in order to create an avenue for those genuinely interested in running the sport to venture into it. “I can tell you that the corruption in our football is more than the corruption in government, and that is why they are scared and run to FIFA to cover their tracks whenever government asks them to give account of their financial dealings,” said Okoro. He added; “If truly we want corporate organisations to support our football and make it more lucrative, then the right people must be allowed to run our football.”

Uwua hits Germany for coaching course F

ormer Super Eagles assistant coach, Godwin Uwua, has travelled to Cologne, Germany for a three-week coaching course. The Niger Tornadoes technical adviser is among the five coaches nominated by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the refresher course sponsored by the German Football Federation, Deutscher Fußball-Bund eV. According to the Benue State born tactician, the course is for FIFA licensed B coaches across Africa under the developmental policy of the German FA to assist coaches on the continent to upgrade their knowledge of the game. “I will be leaving Nigeria through theMurtalaMohammedInternational Airport on Monday (yesterday) for a three-week coaching course in Cologne, Germany,” he said.

L-R: Regional winner, Eastern Qualifiers, MTN World Golfers Nigerian Championship 2014, Kio Lucky; Amanyanabo of Abonnema, Rivers State, King Disrael Gbobo Bob Manuel (11) and Commissioner for Social Welfare and Orientation, Rivers State, Joe Poroma, at the MTN World Golfers Nigerian Championship 2014, at Ibom Golf Course, Uyo... at the weekend.

Uwua

The former Flying Eagles coach expressed appreciation to the NFF for nominating him alongside four others for the course as well as the management of Niger Tornadoes for releasing him even when the league is at a crucial stage. “I want to thank the NFF for looking my way, for nominating me for this course among the several qualified coaches in Nigeria. I am grateful for the opportunity. “But my most sincere appreciation goes to my management at Niger Tornadoes. This course was planned for the end of the season in Nigeria but because of the crisis, the league was suspended and I just have to attend the course. I was afraid really that I might not make the trip but the management of Tornadoes was magnanimous to allow me travel, even when the league is at a crucial stage and we are pursuing promotion. I am grateful to them,”

World Record

On Marble

I would rather die of passion than of boredom.

– Vincent van Gogh

The Sidu River Bridge in Hubei Province of China is at least 496 m (1,627 ft) above the river, making it the highest bridge in the world since 2009.

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

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Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

N150

The infantryman and the war against terrorism

he insurrection in the Northeastern part of Nigeria instigated by the extremist group, Jamatul ahalus sunnah wal da’awati wal jahad , otherwise known as Boko Haram, is steadily deteriorating into a major internal conflict. What started in 2006 with pockets of attacks and occasional bombings of churches and public buildings with improvised explosive devises [IEDs], has snowballed into a full-blown war, with the insurgents proclaiming a part of the country as the Sultanate Caliphate. It is on record that in addition to the huge loss of life and property, this is one conflict that has stretched the resources of the Federal Government--and some of the states-- more than any other since the Civil War. As at the last count, the Borno State capital was under siege after the fall of Bama, a town barely 70 kilometers away from Maiduguri, and the second largest local government area in the state. In the meantime, the Nigerian armed forces are yet to ‘liberate’ Gwoza, Damboa, Buni-Yadi, Madagali, Gamboru-Ngala, Gulak, Mihika, Duhu, Shuwa and Kirshinga [the list is growing by the day], an indication that the situation is getting out of hand. A state of affairs where a band of ragamuffins now dictates the pace in a war of attrition, thereby making the army look ordinary, portends grave consequences for the socio-economic wellbeing of this country. The Nigeria Army has seen several battles within and outside the shores of the country in the last 50 years. It was shortly after the attainment of independence and at a time when the nation was still smarting from the euphoria of the freedom to take its destiny in its own hands, when on February 23 1966 the army had its baptism of fire. On that day, troops had to be called in to quell an uprising led by Isaac Jasper Adako Boro whose group, the Niger Delta Volunteer Force violently agitated for the excision of a Niger Delta Republic from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The insurrection was swiftly put down within 12 days by soldiers and the culprits arrested and clamped into jail. This was followed by numerous political crises, intertribal and ethno-religious conflicts where the army was frequently relied upon to move in and return normalcy to the affected areas. Then there was the Nigerian Civil War beginning, which ended after 30 months. The Nigeria army that has excelled in the UN, AU and ECOWAS peace keeping missions in different parts of the world including Lebanon [1978], former Yugoslavia[1998], East Timor[1999], Liberia[1990-1999], Sierra Leone[1998-2005], Darfur [2004],Democratic Republic of the Congo [2004] Rwanda[1994] and recently Mali [2012] just to mention a few, is now having to struggle against a ragtag army of insurgents called Boko Haram.

Guest Columnist Comrade Agenro Akido

When the conflict in Sierra Leone became critical, it was Nigerian soldiers serving in peacekeeping mission in Liberia who in 1998 gallantly fought their way across the border to dislodge the brutal Revolutionary United Front [RUF] led by Foday Sankoh from Freetown. This bold effort afforded President Ahmad Tejan Kabba who had been overthrown a year earlier the rare opportunity of returning to power from Guinea where he had hitherto been exiled. In the Liberian war that started in December 1989, the ECOWAS cease-fire Monitoring Group code named ECOMOG, composed of mainly Nigerian troops withstood the ferocious assault from different warring factions that had emerged in that country, beginning with the rabid campaign by Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia [NPFL] that had sworn never to allow ECOMOG a foothold in their country. Other warring factions bent on exterminating ECOMOG troops at that time included the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia [INPFL], the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy [ULIMO] composed of former allies of President Samuel Doe and the numerous other splinter groups that emerged in the course of the war. Even with all the odds stacked against it, the ECOMOG combatants fought bravely and restored peace to Liberia to the admiration of the Liberian people, Africa as a whole and the world at large, and to the pride of Nigerians. The activities of the insurgent group have to a large extent demystified the army, practically eroding the high esteem in which the people hitherto held the armed forces. Therefore, there is the need for the military to redeem its image by devising a strategy to rout the insurgents and bring their nefarious activities to a halt. If the rebels manage to hold the captured areas for long, within a short period of time many people either out of coercion or persuasions will openly switch allegiance to the so called Sultanate Caliphate. The seemingly intractable security challenges confronting Nigeria at the moment can be overcome if the army becomes more resourceful in deploying the available material and men to the best advantage. Nigeria has one of the largest armies in Africa second only to Egypt. The soldiers can be drafted to the occupied area in large numbers to stem the insurgents’ advance. The presence of sol-

Shekau, Boko Haram leader

diers in large numbers will serve a dual purpose, one, as a morale-booster for the troops of the Joint Task Force [JTF], and second, as a helping a hand in the war against terrorism. President Goodluck Jonathan has recently presented a provisional appropriation bill before the National Assembly requesting approval for a foreign loan of $1billion to procure equipment for the military. Much as the need to enhance capacity in the armed forces cannot be overemphasized, the immediate need of the army as far as the war against insurgency and internal insurrection is concerned is not the acquisition of mortars, howitzers, gunship, rocket launchers or other large artillery but machine guns, bazookas hand grenades, gun-trucks, operational vehicles and such other light weapons that enhance the effectiveness of the infantryman. The position of the infantry soldiers in the battlefield has remained one of utmost significance even as scientific breakthrough and technological innovations have revolutionized military weaponry over the ages. From the use of dagger, sword, tomahawk, spear along with bow and arrow as the main weapons of war in earlier times, to the discovery of gunpowder in the medieval era down to the emergence of the nuclear weapon in the modern times, the foot soldier has remained ever relevant and crucial in the prosecution of war. The military authorities in Nigeria should place emphasis on enhancing the operational capability of the infantryman in the war against terrorism as this will yield greater result than the procurement of heavy military hardwares, which have the danger of falling into the hands of the insurgent and further compounding an already worse situation. Besides, there is the need to minimize

collateral damage on the battlefield. The infantryman’s kit should consist of a machine gun that is fed with cartridges rolling continuously from a belt worn across the shoulders in place of the outdated mark4 rifle fed by a large magazine still in use by Nigerian soldiers. Alternatively, ballistic experts have recommended the M16 Automatic Rifle with its small magazine that holds 2030 rounds as having similar firepower as the light machine gun and uses the same 5.56mm ammunition. In a normal full-fledged armed duel, the infantry weapon is complemented by large artillery and air strikes. It was this strategy of according priority to the infantryman adopted by Communist China that brought the Korean War [1950-53] to an end. The war had proved intractable as it had been raging fiercely among the enemies. First with North Korea having the upper hand, a state of affairs that was reversed upon the involvement of the US on the side of South Korea and thus overturning the course of the war. But when China, the nation reputed as having the largest army globally entered the hostilities ostensibly to prevent the North Koreans from being pushed over its bother but actually for ideological reasons, the other rivals were overwhelmed by the share number of Chinese soldiers swarming the entire landscape. This approach consequently brought hostility to an end with neither side being proclaimed the victor nor the vanquished. If given the necessary counterinsurgency training, modern weapons and other up-to-date operational equipment as well as relevant morale boosting incentives, the infantryman holds the ace in the war against terrorism in Nigeria.

OMOBABA

BOKO HARAM BEHIND BUILDING COLLAPSE – T B. JOSHUA

– Has Synagogue changed to Bama or Gwoza?

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