Friday, january 16, 2015 binder1234567890 by Newtelegraphonline

A media partner of Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS /newtelegraph

Vol. 1 No. 331

Friday, January 16, 2015

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

Jonathan in Borno, says war on terrorism on course

IMF picks holes in 2015 budget

lReps set to lift embargo on SEC

Adeola Yusuf and Philip Nyam

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a tough economy for Ni-

geria in the wake of the slump in global oil prices, which Platt said could hit Nigeria's economy far

more than the Ebola epidemic. Platt reported IMF and Deutsche Bank to have

said in their 2015 outlook that Nigeria would need to borrow to service its 2015 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

N150

29 days to go... Nigeria votes

2015

ria Nige

s vote

2015

}14 & 15

INEC fires officials for stealing voters' cards

Quick Read

Editorial A cross-section of legionnaires at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration in Bauchi…yesterday

Travel Advisory Your guide to local and international flights 4

Boko Haram sacks 915,329 from homes –FG Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Federal Government has put the number of people

sacked from their homes in the North-East by Boko Haram at 915, 329. Coordinator, National Information Centre (NIC) and Director General of

the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri and the Director of Search and Rescue of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),

Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja said of the 915, 329 Internally Displaced Persons CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Nations Cup without the Super Eagles}19 'How gunmen invaded OdigieOyegun’s house' }5

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Travel Advisory

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

International Flight Schedule

Local FLIGHT SCHEDULE FIRST NATION AIRWAYS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45 (SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50 AEROCONTRACTORS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30 MEDVIEW AIRLINES LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30 OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00 ARIK AIR LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:00; 09:00; 11:00 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00; 20:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 09:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI)07:00; 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 (SAT) 07:00; 11:00; 15:00 (SUN) 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 09:00; 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 (SAT) 07:30; 11:30; 09:00; 13:00; 17:00 (SUN) 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 ABUJA-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30; 16:50 (SAT/SUN) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30 PORT-HARCOURT-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10; 18:30 (SAT/SUN) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10 AZMAN FLIGHT SCHEDULE WEEKLY SCHEDULE Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 12:40pm Lagos-Abuja/Kano 4:00pm Abuja-Kano 5:45pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kan 10:10am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 12:40pm Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm WEEKEND SCHEDULE SATURDAY Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Sunday Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 10:30am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 1:20pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm

Air France

Destination Abuja- Paris Paris-Lagos Paris-PHC PHC-Paris Paris –Abuja Lagos –Paris

Flight No. AF 513 AF 3822 AF514 AF513 AF514 AF3849

Departure 23.55hrs 10.55hrs 11:00hrs 21:20hrs 11:00hrs 23:55hrs

Arrival 6:05hrs 17:15hrs 19:15hrs 6:05hrs 17:00hrs 6:20hrs

Amsterdam-Lagos Lagos-Amsterdam

KL587 KL588

13:15hrs 23:05hrs

20:00hrs 05:50hrs

Lagos-London London-Lagos Lagos-New York

W3 101 W3 102 W3 107 (Mon, Wed & Fri) W3 108 (Tues,Thurs & Fri) W3 103 W3 104 - (Tues, Wed &Thur) - (Tues, Wed &Thur) -

12:00hrs 21:30hrs 23:50hrs

18:30hrs 05:15hrs 05:30hrs

12:30hrs

16:00hrs

KLM

ARIK AIRLINES

New York-Lagos Lagos-Johannesburg Johannesburg-Lagos Lagos-Douala Douala-Lagos Lagos-Accra

10:45hrs 09:35hrs 11:10hrs 13:25hrs 07:20hrs 17:00hrs -(Tue,Thur,Sat,Sun) 08:05hrs -(Mon,Wed,Fri) 13:35hrs 18:00hrs -(Daily) 17:00hrs 06:00hrs - (Wed,Fri,Sun) 08:00hrs 17:00hrs -(Wed,Fri,Sun) 08:00hrs -(Wed,Fri,Sun) 15:20hrs -(Wed,Fri,Sun) 21:00hrs -(Mon,Tue,Thur, Fri,Sat) -(Tue,Wed, 01:00hrs Fri,Sat,Sun)

hrs 14:44hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs

London-Lagos Lagos-London Abuja-London Abuja-London

BA075 BA074 BA 082 BA 083

17:55hrs 00:00hrs 09:00hrs 22:40hrs

11:55hrs 5:50hrs 14:35hrs 06:00hrs

Lebanon-Lagos Lagos-Lebanon

MEA 571 MEA 572

3:00hrs 14:00hrs

8:00hrs 19:00hrs

Lagos-Dubai Lagos-Dubai Dubai-Lagos Dubai-Lagos Abuja-Dubai

EK 7821 (Sun-Sat) EK 7822 EK 7831 EK 7811 EK 761

21:30hrs 14:40hrs 07:35hrs 14:20hrs 23:55hrs

07:40hrs 01:05hrs 12:50hrs 19:45hrs 10:30hrs

Lagos-Doha Flight Doha-Lagos Flight

QR 1414 (daily) QR 1415

14:55hrs 07:20hrs

23:45hrs 13:35hrs

Lagos-Atlanta Atlanta-Lagos

DL053 DL 054

22:15hrs 5:15hrs

05:32hrs 16:15hrs

Lagos-Houston Houston-Lagos

UA 143 UA 142

10:10hrs 19:10hrs

6:05hrs 15.15hrs

Accra-Lagos Abuja-Accra Accra-Abuja Lagos-Freetown Freetown-Lagos Lagos-Banjul Banjul-Lagos Lagos-Dakar Dakar-Lagos

BRITISH AIRWAYS

hrs

Middle East Airlines (Two flights weekly (Tues & Friday) to Lagos) EMIRATES AIRLINES

QATAR AIRWAYS DELTA AIRLINES

UNITED AIRLINES

ASKY AIRLINES

Destination Lome to Abuja Abuja-Lome- Kinshasa Kinshasa-Abuja Abuja-Lome Lome-Lagos Lagos-Libreville Libreville-Kinshasa Kinshasa-Libreville Libreville-Lagos Lagos-Lome Lome-Lagos Lagos-Libreville Libreville-Brazaville Brazaville-Libreville Brazzaville-Lagos Lagos-Lome

Flight No. KP 032 (Tue-Fri) KP 032 ( Tue-Fri) KP 033 (Wed-Sat) KP O33 (Wed-Sat) KP O40 (Sun-Sat) KP 040 (Sun-Sat) KP 040 (Sun-Sat) KP041 (Tue-Sat) KP 041 (Tue-Sat) KP 041 (Tue-Sat) KP O44 (Tue-Fri) KP 044 (Tue-Fri) KP 044 (Tue-Fri) KP O45 (Wed-Sat) KP 045 (Wed-Sat) KP 045 (Wed-Sat)

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

Departure 14:00hrs 16:30hrs 8:20hrs 10:35hrs 13:00hr 14:40hrs 17:00hrs 7:15hrs 9:35hrs 11:55hrs 13:10hrs 14:50hrs 17:10hrs 07:00hrs 09:20hrs 11:40hrs

Arrival 15:55hrs 18:15hrs 10:00hrs 12:20hrs 14:00hrs 16:30hrs 18:45hrs 08:55hrs 11:25hrs 12:45hrs 14:10hrs 16:40hrs 18:50hrs 08:40hrs 11:10hrs 12:30hrs

Lagos to Addis Ababa Addis Ababa to Lagos Abuja to Addis Ababa Addis Ababa to Abuja Enugu to Addis Ababa Addis Ababa to Enugu Kano to Addis Ababa Addis Ababa to Kano

ET900 ET901 ET910 ET911 ET930 ET931 ET930 ET931

13:15hrs 09:00hrs 13:40hrs 09:40hrs 12:00hrs 09:20hrs 14:05hrs 09:20hrs

20:25hrs 12:15hr 20:10hrs 12:20hrs 20:50hrs 11:15hrs 20:50hrs 13:20hrs

Lagos-Madrid Madrid-Lagos

IB 3337 IB 3336

22:55hrs 16:00hrs

05:25+1hrs 20:20hrs

Lagos-Casablanca Casablanca-Lagos

AT738 AT 737

06:25hrs 02:15hrs

09:55hrs 6:00hrs

Lagos-London London-Lagos

VS 652 VS 651

11:00hrs 22:40hrs

17:00hrs 4:40hrs

Lagos- Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi-Lagos

EY 0672 (Sunday) (Monday) (Saturday) EY 955

20.45hrs 09:50hrs 09.20 hrs 06:30hrs

07:00hrs 20:05hrs 20:10hrs 11:45hrs

Lagos-Cairo Cairo-Lagos

MS 876 MS 875

14:25hrs 08:30hrs

22:20hrs 13:30hrs

Lagos-Nairobi Nairobi-Lagos

KQ 533 KQ 534

12:30hrs 18:00hrs

19:35hrs 23:45hrs

Lagos-Kigali

AWB 201 11:15hrs (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) AWB 202 14:00hrs (Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun)

16:45hrs

Lagos-Istanbul Nairobi-Lagos

332 333

22:35hrs 15:10hrs

06:00hrs 21:20hrs

Lagos to Abidjan

HF 851 10:10hrs (Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun) HF 852 19:20hrs (Mon,Wed, Thurs, Sat)

10:50hrs

IBERIA

air maroc

VIRGIN ATLANTIC ETIHAD AIRWAYS

EGYPT AIR

KENYA AIRWAYS RwandAir

Kigali-Lagos

Turkish Airlines Air Côte d'Ivoire

Abidjan to Lagos

17:30hrs

21.50hrs

ASKY Airlines international travel tips Earning Miles on ASKY Airlines ASKY is a Lome -Togo based airline that provides an extensive route network within West Africa. The airline provides excellent connections with Ethiopian Airlines flights serving cities in West Africa. Ethiopian Airlines and ASKY provide an end-toend service for frequent flyers enrolled in ShebaMiles. The airlines jointly provide full coverage of Africa providing full mile earning opportunity for a frequent flyer.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

INEC fires officials for stealing voters' cards Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed two of its officers for alleged theft and burglary of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in its Patani Local Government Area office, in Delta State. The dismissed officers are: Mr. Collins Omofoma, a Grade Level 9 officer and Mr. Onome Avbunudiogba, a Grade Level 7 officer. The commission also

terminated the appointment of Mrs. Obi Chinwoke Ugochi, an administrative officer, for alleged absence from duty without leave. Ugochi is a member of staff of the commission’s Anambra State office. A statement by the Director (Commission’s Secretariat), Ishiaku A. Gali, said the dismissal and termination of the three members of staff were taken at a meeting held on January 8. It was learnt that the sacking of the two officials for the theft of voters' cards was done as

part of efforts by the commission to demonstrate its readiness to hold free and fair polls next month. There has been a row of late over unauthorised access to PVCs, especially with the crisis that fol-

lowed its distribution in some states. The All Progressives Congress (APC) had accused INEC of shoddiness in PVCs' distribution, an act the party considers as part of a

plot to rig the general elections. Besides, the Department of State Security (DSS) on January 7 accused the APC of cloning PVCs and plotting to hack into INEC database, in a

Boko Haram sacks 915,329 from homes –FG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

(IDPs) 3, 200 of them were driven out of Baga, Borno State, during the recent Boko Haram attack on the community. According to Otegbade, the figure of Boko Haram-

induced IDPs, is part of the 981, 416, which he said is the "total number of IDPs affected by both the insurgency and natural disasters.” Of the number, 804, 732 are living in host commu-

nities while 107, 997 live in camps. The IDPs are scattered across camps in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba states. He added that 15, 001 IDPs are refugees in Cam-

L-R: President, Transcorp Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Managing Director, Transcorp Hotels Plc, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo and Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki, at the official listing of Transcorp Hotels Plc’s shares on the NSE in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

How armed robbers attacked Odigie-Oyegun's residence Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

resh facts have emerged on how the residence of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John OdigieOyegun was attacked on Monday morning in Abuja by armed robbers. According to a source, who spoke to New Telegraph exclusively, the residence of the APC national chairman located at Number 21 Jose Marti Crescent, Asokoro was attacked with the armed robbers accessing the residence from back of the house. Since the attack, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command was yet

to beef up security at the residence of the APC national chairman. The source narrating how the armed robbers operated without hindrances, stated that the security men on duty – a police man and a security guard – were at their security room at the main entrance of the residence. He told New Telegraph that the security men were not aware that armed robbers were in the premises, as Oyegun's wife was the only person in the building. He also revealed that the residence was previously attached with two uniformed policemen and some security guards, but at the day of the attack one of the policemen was away

bid by the party to rig the election. The party, however, denied the allegations and accused DSS of working with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the polls.

with Oyegun who was said to have gone for a meeting. He gave a contrary report from what was given by the national leadership of the APC that the armed robber did not take any valuable away from the house. According to him, Oyegun's wife revealed that about N300, 000 was taken away from the house. His words: “Madam was the only person in the house as Chief Oyegun had gone for a meeting when the armed robbers passed through the fence behind and entered into the compound. “Madam said the robbers searched the room and collected about N300, 000 and also jumped the fence to escape.”

New Telegraph called the Force Public Relations Office, Acting Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Ojukwu to find out the security measure put in place after the incident. Ojukwu said such is within the purview of the Federal Capital Territory. He said the issue of the security of Oyegun's residence was a local issue and is with the FCT Command. According to him, the FCT police command was responsible to the security of the residence of the territory. The FCT Police Public Relations Office, ASP Peter Okechukwu, could not be reached on his mobile line. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, painted a pic-

ture of assassination. ''The facts of the raid as available so far point to a sinister motive. For example, only Chief Oyegun's room was ransacked in the whole house. Common sense dictates that if the invaders were robbers, they would have ransacked the whole house in search of money and other valuables which they might have believed were in the residence ''The invaders, two burly men, removed the window burglar bars to gain access to the residence from the back, and then made straight for the bedroom of our National Chairman. Police security was in place at the residence when the incident happened."

eroon while another 2, 377 others are in Chad. Otegbade said Nigerian refugees were in about 23 camps, adding that the Federal Government is doing everything within its power to bring home refugees in the neighbouring countries, "NEMA, with support from local and international partners, provides both food and non-food items to IDPs living in camps as well as those living with host communities. "NEMA has strategically stockpiled emergency food and non-food items, ready for deployment in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. "NEMA is providing comprehensive humanitarian support to 3,200 IDPs from Baga at its secured facility in Maiduguri, the Teacher's Village Camp," he said. On Tuesday's suicide bombing in Gombe, Omeri said: "Militants killed three innocent civilians and injured at least 21 in a suicide bomb attack near a mosque at Kasuwan Matam. "Security forces have established a robust presence on the ground to provide a safe and secure environment for the Nigerian Red Cross Society and other humanitarian agencies to provide critical assistance to those injured." Omeri also reiterated government's commitment towards the safe rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls, who have remained in Boko Haram captivity, since April 14, 2014, when they were taken from their school. He also said 15 Chadians were among insurgents killed by troops while repelling an attack on Biu, Borno State on Wednesday. He said the 15 Chadians were among 42 Boko Haram members killed in the gunfight. "Nigerian officials led by the Department of State Service (DSS) will conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the five militants captured to determine if they were involved in any other atrocities against the Nigerian people. Those found to have committed any crimes against the state CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Jonathan visits troops, IDPs in Maiduguri Anule Emmanuel and Ahmed Miringa

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday paid a surprise visit to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to boost the morale of officers and men of the Armed Forces on the frontline of the war against terrorism and insurgency. The visit came as the country marked the 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day with Jonathan and top military brass laying wreaths in Abuja to honour fallen heroes. Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, said in a statement that the president was accompanied on the trip by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, service chiefs, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and the DirectorGeneral of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi. Jonathan visited officers and men of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri to thank them for their patriotic and courageous service to the nation. He told the officers and soldiers that the nation

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

22oC

13oC

37oC

21oC

Sunny

PORT HARCOURT

27o C 18oC Thunder Storms

KANO

23oC

16oC

Sunny

ENUGU

36oC

20oC

Sunny

IBADAN

20oC

11oC

Rain Showers

CALABAR

26oC

18oC

Sunny

MAIDUGURI

ONITSHA

of men undertaking a great assignment for their fatherland, Jonathan also assured them that action is being taken to address challenges facing them in their operations against Boko Haram. “In terms of equipment and logistics, we have already made considerable progress since the insurgency started and we will continue to improve in that regard until your operations are successfully concluded,” he told the soldiers. He also toured wards of the 7 Division Hospital and

Medical Services Centre where he met with soldiers recovering from injuries sustained in operations against Boko Haram. He wished them speedy recovery. Before leaving the Borno State capital, Jonathan visited over 900 displaced persons from Baga at a camp in the city. He commiserated with them on the losses they suffered during the attack on their town by Boko Haram. He promised them that the Federal Government will strive to make their stay in the camps more

comfortable while it continues to do all within its powers to restore peace and security to enable them to return to their homes soon. “Terrorism and insurgency have been very traumatic for all of us. I feel particularly disturbed when I hear of our people being displaced within their own country. “I assure you and other displaced persons that Government is working very hard to ensure that you do not remain in these camps for too long. “I know that many of

24oC 17oC Sunny

36oC

22oC

Mostly Sunny

your houses have been destroyed. We will assist you financially so that you can rebuild your homes and return to them gradually,” he said. The president thanked the Red Cross and other international organisations who have been assisting in the provision of relief materials to the displaced persons. He also charged local, state and federal government officials to work with greater harmony and cooperation in rendering support to the displaced persons.

L-R: President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman, Visafone Communication Limited, Jim Ovia; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr. Foluso Phillips, at a meeting with the minister on the state of the economy in Lagos…yesterday.

Mostly Sunny

ABUJA

was proud of them and grateful for their dedication and commitment to the defence of the civilians against terrorists. The president assured the troops that the Federal Government will continue to do everything possible to ensure that they get the weapons, equipment, welfare and logistics support they require to completely rout the insurgents and restore full security and normalcy to parts of the country ravaged by terrorism. While describing the troops as a special breed

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Reps set to lift embargo on SEC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

budget unless oil sells at $123 per barrel. The Federal Government has fixed $65 per barrel as oil benchmark in the 2015 budget, which passed through the second reading at the National Assembly on Wednesday. But the IMF and Deutsche Bank stated that Nigeria's 2015 budget would face a tough time, except the price of crude oil more than double at its current sub $50 per barrel. "Nigeria would need $123/b to balance its spending plans while Libya would need $184/barrel to balance its budget," the two global financial institutions said. "This plummeting price will likely have more farreaching implications for countries facing elections and states heading for first oil. "With the price of Brent crude at five-and-a-half year lows, Africa’s top oil producers, Nigeria, Angola, Libya and Algeria, face

growing fiscal challenges because more than 70 per cent of these countries’ revenue stems from oil production," the Platts said. Nigeria’s oil output was already falling before the drop in oil prices largely due to oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), suspended a four-day national strike last December after the government agreed to discuss their demands, including an immediate passage or the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Nigeria was the first casualty of the United States shale boom, but oil flows to the US displaced by shale has also altered oil trade in Angola, Libya and Algeria, which produce light sweet crude oil, similar to the type produced in new fields in North Dakota. The US, which hitherto was Nigeria's biggest

crude importer, squeezed out over 1 million barrels of Nigeria's crude out of its market in the second quarter of 2014. Like Nigeria, Angola’s exports to the US also fell to 4.9 million b/d in July from 21.9 million b/d in March 2007. The drop in exports to the US means Angola will be hard pressed to find other buyers for its crude. Lower oil prices come on top of declining oil production, below the government expectation which averaged 1.66 million b/d in the first half of 2014, due to technical difficulties at existing fields. Angola’s draft budget for 2015 is currently based on $81/b compared to $98/b in 2014 but it also includes a provision that a number of projects will receive funding only if the oil price exceeds a given threshold, according to a report by Deutsche Bank. If oil prices average $80/b in 2015, export revenue could fall by over $10 billion or 7 per cent of GDP,

which would translate into a major current deficit in 2015, Deutsche Bank said. Ghana will also have its share of the price slump. The country hopes the Tullow Oil-operated TEN project will boost the country’s production when it is completed in 2016. But the TEN project economics was based on an oil price of $80/b. With oil below $65/b, industry experts are sceptical about the schedule of the project. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives will appropriate funds in the 2015 budget for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the exit of its erstwhile Director General, Ms. Arunma Oteh. The House had in the 2013 and 2014 appropriations gave zero allocations to SEC in protest against President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to sack her based on its recommendation. A lawmaker told New Telegraph that since the

president did not renew the tenure of Oteh, the House would resume contacts and make allocations to the commission. He said the House was aware that Oteh was still lobbying to be reappointed but now “it is clear that she will not be at SEC again. So, we will appropriate funds to the commission. We are aware that the stock market is also shaky so we don’t want anything that may affect the regulatory body negatively. “We want Nigerians to know that we took that decision in the best interest of the country. It was not a selfish resolution as some individuals were accusing us. But we needed to stamp our authority and do the right thing. We are happy she is gone”, he said. Attempts to get the House spokesman, Hon. Zakari Ibrahim and chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Albert Sam-Tsokwa, to comment on the issue were, however, not successful.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

US condemns Boko Haram massacres lLawmakers demand change in policy towards Nigeria lChad offers Cameroon support in fight against militants

he United States yesterday condemned Boko Haram massacres of civilians in Baga and Doro Baga, Borno State. US Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, described the massacres as a "crime against humanity." "What they have done with respect to the slaughter recently is a crime against humanity nothing less. It's an enormously horrendous slaughter of innocent people and Boko Haram continues to present a serious threat not just in Nigeria and the region but to all of our values and all of our sense of responsibility regarding terrorism. "Boko Haram is without question one of the most evil and threatening terrorist entities on the planet today," Kerry told a news conference during a visit to Bulgaria. Hundreds of people, if not more, were feared killed in the attacks that began on January 3 on Baga and Doro Baga on the shores of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria, according to rights group Amnesty International. Kerry said he had earlier discussed with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who was also in Sofia, on the possibility of "engaging in a special initiative with respect to Nigeria and with respect to Boko Haram. He said: "Nobody in the world should doubt the world's determination I think, over time, to deal with this, as we deal with ISIS as we are dealing with Al-Shebab (in east Africa), as we deal with Al-Nusra (in Syria) and a host of groups that want

to challenge the international values and morays which have guided the world for so long. "Boko Haram obviously stands as a singular example of a threat to that structure," a report by the Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted him as saying. Yesterday, rights groups released satellite images claiming to show massive destruction in Baga and Doro Baga, in what is feared to be Boko Haram's deadliest strike in its six-year insurgency. However, the Defence Headquarters has said about 150 died and dismissed as "sensational" claims that 2,000 may have lost their lives in the attacks. The insurgency in Ni-

geria has also attracted the attention of some US lawmakers who are calling on the Obama administration to engage in a more serious and sustained military effort in Nigeria. “It is clear that the United States needs a comprehensive strategy to address Boko Haram’s growing lethality,” members of Congress, Patrick Meehan and Peter King, wrote in a letter to Kerry. But they said in the letter quoted in an online report from Fox News, that doing so won’t be easy. Nigerian officials have accused the Obama administration of not doing enough, which triggered a biting response from the State Department about the Nigerian military’s

human rights record. Human rights groups have long accused the military of carrying out killings, committing torture and illegally detaining residents. Jackson Lee told Fox News she hopes the Nigerian government reconsiders letting the U.S. help. “It’s important that our military resources engage with the government over there,” she said, adding that Nigeria should “accept the fact they can’t do it alone.” Jackson was part of the four-member U.S. delegation that visited Nigeria following the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. Meanwhile, Chad has said it is ready to help Cameroon fight Boko

Haram militants attacking it from Nigeria, and called on other countries in the region to translate pledges of support into concrete action. Chad's offer came days after an appeal by Cameroon's President Paul Biya for international military help to fight the Islamist militant group that has seized swathes of northern Nigeria and is threatening neighbours who share borders with the north-eastern zones occupied by Boko Haram. Cameroon's north is now regularly attacked by the Islamists, who highlighted their regional threat this month by seizing a military base in Nigeria meant to be used by a joint force from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and

Cameroon to fight them. "Faced by this situation that seriously threatens the security and stability of Chad ... the Chadian government will not sit here and do nothing," government spokesman Hassan Sylla Bakari said in a statement on Wednesday. "The government expresses its solidarity with Cameroon and is ready to provide active support in the courageous and determined response of its armed forces against the criminals and terrorists of Boko Haram." The statement did not give any detail on what form the support would take but it followed a visit to Chad by Cameroon's defence minister on Wednesday.

L-R: Head of Production, Africa Magic, Yibo Koko; Regional Director, Mnet (West), Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu; Publicity and Talent Lead, Mnet/Africa Magic, Efosa Aiyevbomwan, at the Africa Magic Views Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2015 media briefing in Lagos

Boko Haram sacks 915,329 from homes –FG IGP orders AIGs, CPs to secure armouries between Nigeria and said the scribe. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Omeri stated. Meanwhile, the Adamawa Government has confirmed the outbreak of measles in some IDPs camps in the state. Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Haruna Furo, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola. Furo, however, said that there was no dead recorded. “There is outbreak of measles not just in the IDPs camps, but also within the community,”

He listed the affected camps as the NYSC Camp at Bajabure, Girei and Malkohi camps in Girei and Yola North local government areas, respectively. He attributed the outbreak to the daily mass movement and influx of new IDPs from Borno and Cameroon mountains into the various camps across the state. “Not minding the fact that some of these Internally Displaced Persons came across the borders where they were into hiding for quite sometimes escaping from insurgent attacks. “Some came down from top of mountains

Cameroun borders where they were trapped for two to three weeks; so these type of ailments are bound to be with them,” Furo said. He assured that the cases were not beyond the medical team in the camps and that they were working hard round the camps as well as the host communities to curtail the spread of the disease. According to Furo, routine immunisation days were being conducted by the primary healthcare workers, state Ministry of Health, NEMA, Red Cross and some other agencies for victims in the camps.

Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba, has directed zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in state commands to take deliberate measures to secure "arms and ammunition on hold to the police." A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Emmanuel Ojukwu, an Acting Commissioner of Police, said the IG's directive has become imperative in order to nip in the bud, attempts by hoodlums or armed robbers, to attack police

formations and armoury nationwide. Abba, the statement added, further directed state command CPs, to beef up security around banks as well as seek collaboration with their authorities to secure the premises. The statement reads in part: "The Inspector General of Police has ordered the Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police and Commissioners of Police at State Commands to take stern measures at securing arms and ammunition on hold to the Police at various departments and stations. “This becomes imperative in a bid to ward off any likely or possible attempt

by hoodlums or men of the underworld to attack Police stations and other installations. “It would be recalled that the IGP had earlier directed audit on police armouries nationwide with a view to securing the police arms and ammunition and in tandem with the mission of the IGP to provide safety and security in Nigerian communities and controlling social order. "The IGP, in addition, directed all Commissioners of Police at State Commands to beef up security at banks within their jurisdictions and further collaborate with bank authorities and officials to secure their premises."

News

RED CARD

Former presidential candidate gives Jonathan administration Red Card

Clem Khena-OGBENA

resident Goodluck Jonathan administration has failed Nigeria, in view of the ugly developments across several sectors in the country, Professor Pat Utomi has said. Utomi, who said this

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NATIONAL

Jonathan has failed the nation, says Utomi in Abuja during an interview with New Telegraph, added that government’s inability to pay workers’ salaries before the Christmas and the New Year holidays was a clear indication of government’s failure. He further said that the government had failed to take a strategic look at the economy, in order to be able to anticipate changes in revenue fortunes, adding that there was the inability to save at boom

times, by which the current challenges facing the government would have been avoided. Utomi also noted that the nation’s Stabilisation Fund, from which money could be drawn to assuage the current financial pains, had dropped considerably, due to lack of discipline in the running of the government. According to him: “The non- payment of workers’ salaries is obviously an evidence of the failure

of government. Part of what it takes to lead is to take the strategic view of things, and to take strategic look of things means to anticipate changes in revenues, plan accordingly, save when you are having boom, so that leaner times you can manage still. “Tribulations are not forever. The idea of the Stabilization Fund, where you put something away so that when revenue drops, you can draw from

Stabilisation Fund, ensures that you have stable running budget, whether crude oil is at $40 or $100 per barrel. “But there has been general lack of discipline in the way we have run the system. Combination of the problem of civil servants and politicians is a challenge; so, unfortunately, it came to the roost. “ Utomi attributed the mismanagement of the nation’s economic re-

sources to corruption. He stated: “A great part of the reason why things have not been managed properly in Nigeria is corruption, period! “Politicians are in a hurry to collect revenues and award useless contracts, and so there were no savings to do the important things. They were not expanding the economy as should be the case, and chickens came home to roost, unfortunately.”

Eisenhower Leadership Series inaugurated in Nigeria Ebere Ameh

he alumni of the Eisenhower Fellowship in Nigeria in conjunction with the United States Mission in Nigeria has initiated a leadership series to advance the ideals of the prestigious fellowship in the country. With the theme Promoting Citizen’s Leadership, the event was in honour of Martin Luther King Jr., on the Martin Luther King's Day, a day set aside to commemorate the birth of the great proponent of non violence civil disobedience. Presenting his Keynote speech at the event, which took place at Abuja, with Lagos participants to join through video conference, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador James F. Entwistle, expressed the hope that the leadership series will develop into a meaningful, educational, and inspirational series of events under the simple title, “The Eisenhower Leadership Series”. “We hope this series will be a forum allowing our alumni to share their experiences and wisdom and, by so doing, give back to Nigerian soci-

ety, particularly the next generation of Nigerian leaders.” Eisenhower Fellowship is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan organization created in 1953 by a group of prominent American citizens to honour President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his contribution to humanity as a soldier, statesman, and world leader. The organization engages midcareer (age 32-45) professionals from around the world to enhance their leadership skills, broaden their network of contacts, deepen their global perspectives, and unite them in a diverse global community, where dialogue, understanding, and collaboration lead to a more prosperous, just, and peaceful world.” Giving a brief biography of the great Eisenhower, who was a former president of America, Entwistle noted that despite being a soldier, he was a peace-loving president, who played a key role in the evolution of civil rights in the United States – ensuring in the desegregation and integration of schools and signing several key pieces of voting legislation.

YABATECH alumni association holds AGM Mojeed Alabi

embers of the Alumni Association of the Yaba College of Technology will tomorrow hold a session preceding its annual general meeting scheduled to hold on Thursday, January 29. The AGM, which is billed to feature election into various other offices, will according to the association, hold at its secretariat- Emman Unachukwu Hall, Alumni Complex, Yaba. In a statement issued yesterday by the association, the graduates of the institution scattered all over the country are

enjoined to pick up free nomination forms into various offices they intend to contest for, saying, it was time to harness all these enormous resources to the advantage of technological developments in Nigeria and the alma mater. “We therefore, send this clarion call to all graduates of Yaba College of Technology all over Nigeria to attend this landmark 2015 annual general meeting and election of new officers to run the affairs of the association for the next three years as stipulated in our constitution,” the statement added.

L-R: Director, Disaster Risk Reduction (NEMA), Alhassan Nuhu; Director Search and Rescue (NEMA), Air Commander Charles Otegbade and Coordinator, National Information Centre (NIC), Mr. Mike Omeri, at a media briefing on the state of the nation in Abuja …yesterday

NOUN to graduate three prisoners, honours Adadevoh Mojeed Alabi

total of three prisoners from both the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Apapa, Lagos and Enugu Prison will be part of more than 7,000 candidates who will be graduating tomorrow from the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN. This is even as the university will be awarding a posthumous honourary doctorate degree to the late physician, who reportedly saved Nigeria from the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, by risking her life, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh. Adadevoh, who will be honoured with Doctor of Science, honoris causa, will be joined by the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, who will be honoured with Doctor of Letters, honoris causa. The university’s ViceChancellor, Prof. Vincent Ado Tenebe, who revealed this at a media briefing yesterday, expressed appreciation to individuals and organisations, especially President Goodluck Jonathan for supporting the institution. He said within the last three

years, NOUN has made it a tradition to hold its convocation annually. Speaking on the importance of the open and distance learning model of education as the best alternative to the flooded conventional university system in the country and globally, Tenebe insisted that the university has been able to break the barrier to education once created by the strict learning process in the conventional academic institutions. The VC also appealed to various organisations, such as the Nigeria’s Council of Legal Education to accord due recognition to the university by approving its Law programme, so that the graduates could be allocated space in the Nigerian Law school. Tennebe, who cited the case of the Open University of England, where its graduates are allowed to participate in all post university programmes, including Law School, said it would be a disservice to Nigeria if the university’ Law graduates are not disqualified based on poor performance but based on what he described as wrong perception.

Saraki: Only APC can salvage Nigeria Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN

embers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State converged in their thousands yesterday on the Ilorin Metropolitan Square for the flag-off of the party's campaign in the state. At the event, leader of the party in the state and chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr. Bukola Saraki, declared that the worrisome situation of Nigeria can only be salvaged by a national government under the APC. Former Minister of Sports, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi, who also spoke at the event, described the PDP as a sinking ship, alleging that what the Fed-

eral Government terms as an increased GDP is actually wealth of the nation being siphoned by unscrupulous politicians. “Nigeria can only be better under General Muhammadu Buhari's presidency”, Saraki said in an emotion-laden voice as scores of party faithful listened to his account of how the Federal Government, under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has allegedly failed the state in all ramifications. He said: “We are tired of the present day Nigeria. We must effect a change. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan promised us roads, there are no roads. They promised us power, there is no electricity; they promised us employment, our youths remained unemployed”.

PSC promotes 14 senior officers Emmanuel Onani

he Police Service Commission (PSC), has approved the promotion of 14 senior officers to the next rank. A statement signed by Ahmed Gimba Mohammed for the Head of Press and Public Relations, said "Mr Adeola Adeleke

Adeniji was promoted from Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), while Mr Adenrele T. Shinaba and Ikemefuna R. Okoye were promoted from Commissioners of Police (CPs) to Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs)."

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

News

NATION'S CAPITAL

Adeyemi: Revenue Board to speed up development in Abuja DEVELOPMENT

FCT will soon experience speedy development wiith the passage of new bill by Senate Chukwu David ABUJA

he Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, yesterday expressed confidence that the FCT Board of Internal Revenue, which the Senate passed its Establishment Bill on Wednesday would facilitate speedy infrastructural development of the territory. Adeyemi expressed this optimism in an interview with journalists in Abuja while reacting to the passage of the bill by the Senate.

He noted that the population explosion in the FCT made it imperative for the administration in the territory to generate more funds to upgrade available infrastructure in the nation's seat of power, pointing out that allocations from the national budget were no longer enough. He thanked his colleagues for finally passing the bill, which he noted, had been in the National Assembly since 1999. According to the lawmaker, the bill faced a lot of obstacles in the Upper Chamber, disclosing that political considerations really made its passage difficult. Adeyemi further expressed gratitude that the economic situation in the country eventually prevailed over political considerations on the bill. His words: "The economic situation in the country now has pre-

vailed over political considerations. The population in Abuja now is different from what it was once projected which has now made this new law imperative. "The population we have in Abuja now demands upgrading of the infrastructure because allocation from the national budget is not enough. Adeyemi further disclosed that it took a lot of "horse-trading before the National Assembly members conceded to the establishment of the Board. "We've now put a revenue board to expand the revenue base of the FCT and also, make sure there's property tax in Abuja. The harmonised version now allows for collection of taxes as well as the powers of the minister was reviewed in such a manner that the Board will meet and recommend appropriate

taxes to the minister "The approval of the collection of taxes will be done by the minister, who will act on behalf of the President." It is noteworthy that, for the first time since Abuja became Nigeria's seat of power, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has been empowered by the National Assembly to independently generate revenue for the administration of the territory. The achievement was recorded on Wednesday when the Senate adopted the harmonised report of both chambers of the National Assembly and eventually passed a bill establishing the FCT Internal Revenue Service with the powers to collect, assess and account for revenues accruable to the FCT. The bill also provides for the establishment of FCT Internal Revenue Service and Manage-

ment Board, with the power to sue and be sued, control and administer different taxes within the FCT and as well account for such taxes. The bill, which was sponsored by Adeyemi, provides that the Board shall be headed by a chairman appointed by the FCT minister, subject to the approval of the National Assembly and consists of a deputy chairman, six representatives from different departments of the FCT as well as six persons drawn from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, who are knowledgeable in tax matters. The Service, shall among others, collect, recover and pay to the designated account any tax or levy due to the FCT. It will also assess all persons chargeable with tax within the FCT; collect, account and enforce payment of taxes as may be due to the FCT.

FG inaugurates FMBN Executive Management Team Yusuf Shuaib ABUJA

Senate President, David Mark, laying a wreath during the 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Abuja…yesterday.

Naira devaluation: Experts predict interruption in real estate sector Yusuf Shuaib ABUJA

xperts within the building sector have said that the Nigerian construction industry may not perform optimally this year, if the nation’s fiscal policy and the present regime of naira devaluation persists. They also predicted low activities of the market in 2015. Their apprehension, they say, is against the backdrop of the idea, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was working on to beef up the level of coordination between monetary and fiscal policy instruments. But the pledge from the apex’s bank has not in any

way won the confidence of stakeholders in the real estate sector as they are expressing fear over the developments, which they maintain will have adverse effect on the industry. Also added to their fear is the falling price of crude oil, which they say was the support of the nation’s economy that is presently at the lowest level with no indication for its abatement. However, to some experts, the situation requires ingenuity from policy makers to ensure that consequences become manageable. Responding to a question, the Managing Partner, Estapros Ltd; one of the leading developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alikali Saliu, said that property also represents all human activities.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Visit us or lose our votes, Abuja natives tell Jonathan, Buhari Yekeen Nurudeen ABUJA

atives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja under the umbrella of Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja (OIDA) have threatened President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu to take their respective campaign trains beyond Abuja city centre to the various villages and towns within around the FCT or lose their votes in the February 14 presidential election. President of the association, Pastor Danladi Jeji, who handed down the threat while speaking at the 3rd FCT Heritage Day held in Kuje particularly said the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) must proceed with their campaigns from Abuja centre to indigenous towns like Kuje, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Karu, Karshi, Zuba among other towns to ask for their votes. "Unless the two top contenders, President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari step into our indigenous communities to tell us what their governments will do for us, we shall have no choice than to cast our votes elsewhere, thereby, depriving them of the critical one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two thirds of all states in the federation and the FCT as stated in Section 134(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended".

n view of the challenges facing the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and other housing finance and mortgage institutions in Nigeria, the Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development Mrs. Akon Eyankenyi, has inaugurated a four man Executive Management team headed by Gimba Yau Kumo, as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Office. According to the minister, the essence of reconstituting the Executive Management Team of the FMBN is to reinvigorate the Bank and effectively reposition it to meet the present and future challenges. Hence, the reason of bringing in fresh minds, hands and intelligence to take the FMBN to a new height of glory as the market in the housing finance/mortgage sub-sector, she added. “This is in view of the bumpy and stormy nature of the economic climate in which only the proactive, adaptive and innovative organizations will have the absorptive capacity to survive its harsh consequences” she said. “We are delighted to note that the FMBN is presently not one of the failed or failing organizations that do not offer diligent services to their customers and as such, do not have a place in the new Nigeria that is gradually evolving”

In collaboration with relevant agencies, the Board will review tax regime and promote application of tax revenues with a view to stimulating economic activities and development and as well administer, collect and enforce payment of property tax in the FCT. The Service will also issue a tax payer identification number to every person taxable in the FCT, collate and review all policies of FCTA that relate to taxation and revenue generation and simultaneously undertake a systematic and progressive implementation of such policies. The board is also empowered to trace, freeze, confiscate or seize the proceeds of tax fraud and evasion and from time to time determine the extent of financial loss and other losses arising from tax waivers and other related matters.

CHANGE OF NAMES

LAZARUS

I formerly known and addressed as Okeze Blessing Obi now to be known and addressed Lazarus Blessing Obi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OGINNI

I formerly known and addressed as Sadare Ruth Oyebimpe now to be known and addressed Oginni Ruth Oyebimpe. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

JUDE-ATIMOKHALE

I formerly known and addressed as Oluwabunmi Esther Ibiyeye now to be known and addressed Oluwabunmi E. Jude-Atimokhale. All former documents remain valid. Trans Atlantic Shipping Agency Limited and general public take note.

OJIABOR

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Agwu Ada Felicia now to be known and addressed Mrs. Ojiabor Favour Ada. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

VICTORIA

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Akanni Folashade Omobomi now to be known and addressed Mrs. Akanni Folashade Victoria. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OBIODU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Emereuwa Martha Okwuchi, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obiodu Martha Okwuchi. All document bearing my former names remain valid. General public please note.

ADETONA

I formerly known and addressed as Kofoworola Oluwakemi Akinwande now to be known and addressed Kofoworola Akinwande Adetona. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OKONKWO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Onuoha Rita Ifunanya now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okonkwo Rita Ifunanya. All former documents remain valid, general public should take note.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro Two die, houses, vehicles burnt in Lagos fire

Shun violence during elections, cleric tells youths

The scene of fire incident in Ijora

Muritala Ayinla, Camilus Nnaji and Taiwo Jimoh

gain, fire raced through parts of Lagos yesterday. It claimed two lives and destroyed property worth millions of naira. Two persons, identified as John and Yaro, were killed while 20 buildings were destroyed during a fire outbreak at Ijora-Badia area of the state. Also at Iwaya in Yaba, another fire outbreak destroyed 17 vehicles of different brands at a mechanic workshop. The midnight fire also razed plank buildings in the area. Goods worth several millions of naira were also lost to fire at Kirikiri, Apapa. The fire gutted a warehouse fully stocked with tyre at Mosheshe Industrial Estate. At press time, the fire was spreading to factories in the area, according to the Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe. “At 3:30pm, we recorded a serious outbreak of fire involving a warehouse fully stocked with tyre and other inflammable products at Kirikiri. Two fire trucks are currently battling it,”

The residents of Ijora-Badia said that the fire was caused by power surge, adding that property valued at millions of naira were lost. The bodies of the victims had been taken away by both families, while some of the residents were packing furniture from some affected buildings. Among the buildings affected was a popular brothel patronised by youths in the area. “The fire started about 2am on Wednesday and continued till this morning (yesterday) it was eventually put out by some Good Samaritans in the neighbourhood. “We believe that the fire was caused by an electric surged in one of the buildings. The fire quickly spread to other houses. At the end, about 20 buildings were destroyed,” a witness said. While some people struggled to arrest the fire, others used the opportunity to start stealing. The thieves fled when they saw policemen from the Badia Police Station. One of those whose goods were lost to the inferno, Mrs Kemi Ajimuda, said she was still in shock. She said: “I have seven shops there, but everything is gone. They are all burnt to the ground.”

Smoke rises from the burning warehouse at Kirikiri

According to her, she sells food stuffs in one of the shops and did not live in the area. Ajimuda said she did not know her shops were had been burnt until she arrived to start the business of the day. She said: “It was when I got to the shop this morning (yesterday) that I saw the havoc the fire had wreaked on the area. My children said they were aware of the incident but they did not want to tell me because of my health. It was just on Monday that I restocked my shop with garri, yam flour, yam and palm oil. Now everything is gone.” Another victim, who identified himself simply as Rotimi, said he inherited one of the property from his late father. He said: “It was on Monday I brought a buyer who has been showing interest in one of the buildings. I was shocked to hear that the whole house had been gutted by fire. “This is not the first time such fire incident had hap-

pened at this street. It has become a recurrent incident; it is happening almost every year.” Some of the residents said that when firefighters from Iganmu arrived at area, some angry youths had blocked the road, hindering them from getting to the scene of fire. Piqued by the growing rate of fire incidents in Lagos, the government yesterday warned the residents to exercise great caution during the harmattan season. The Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who gave the warning, advised the residents to install fire extinguishers at homes, market places, motor parks, etc. Bello, who attributed the fire disasters to dry weather, said the warning became necessary following a series of outbreaks of fire in parts of the state. The commissioner urged the people to be extremely cautious with naked fire in cigarettes, firewood, stoves as well as desist from storing explosives in order to reduce fire outbreaks.

he General Overseer, Cherubim & Seraphim Church, Imole Oloruntan, Agbala Anu, Lagos, Dr Toyin Owoeye, has called the youth to reject all forms of political violence during elections. Rather than terrorism, he said youths should engage with more purposeful and fruitful activities and steer clear of any shoddy character that could lead them to destruction in a democracy. Owoeye made the plea at the ‘Service of Testimony’ organised by major stakeholders the in area. Speaking on the gospel of effective democracy, the cleric emphasised it became necessary for the youth, this time around, to resist being misled by aspirants who had been using them to ferment trouble during political campaigns in different parts of the country. The GO, who observed that since the political campaigns started in the country, competition for power had been misunderstood by the aspirants, said the elections would be volatile. This, according to him, calls for caution and the need for individuals to embrace orderliness and civility, as part of efforts to maintain peace and unity in the country. Owoeye, who canvassed genuine change that could transform the country from miss-governance, said “no nation becomes great when youths are embodiments of thuggery and violence”.

Owoeye

Pakistan arrests three Nigerians for scam Sunday Ojeme

with agency report

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

hree Nigerians and a Zambian have been arrested in Pakistan for sending scam mails with the aim of defrauding the recipients. According to a report by a Pakistani newspaper, The Express Tribune, a team of the Federal Inves-

tigation Agency (FIA), National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes (NR3C) on Sunday arrested three Nigerians - Chibuke Afaamu Ohaka, Donatus Maduabuchi Ogbuagu, Emeka Obowu - and a Zambian, John Chongo alias Kasmir, for defrauding people. FIA Punjab Director, Usman Anwar, while briefing journalists, said the suspects would send

emails to people telling them that a rich old man or a woman was about to die and wanted to donate money to the poor in Pakistan. “They would then obtain money saying that some legal charges were needed to transfer the donation from abroad,” Anwar said. He said Kasmir had arrived in Pakistan on July 7, 2010. According to him, being a

Zambian, Kasmir does not need a visa for Pakistan although he cannot stay in the country for more than three months. He had overstayed in Pakistan, Anwar said. He said Obowu had failed to produce documents justifying his stay in Pakistan. Obowu told the FIA that he had lost his passport.

News 11

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Nigerian ‘lover’ dupes American of N11.8m Juliana Francis

Nigerian fraudster, identified as Ndekwu Jindu, has fleeced an American lady, Jolanta Kasza, of $64,000 (about N11,881,600). The Head, Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, said that the agency had recovered $23,886 for the New York-based Kasza. He said: “Jolanta Kasza was fleeced of $64,000 by a suspected Nigerian fraudster, Ndekwu Jindu (aka Dr Daniel Coffman) in a romance scam. “Kasza allegedly met Coffman online in June 2012, and the fraudster introduced himself as self-employed Caucasian pharmacist. Impressed by the profile, Kasza fell in love, with both agreeing to get married.” In the course of the affair, the suspect, at different times, requested for money under various guise. Before the victim realised

that she was dealing with a con artist, she had lost $64,000 to the fraudster. “She consequently petitioned the EFCC, which through discreet investigation recovered $23,886. The agency is in the process of repatriating the fund to the victim,” Uwujaren added. Meanwhile, another American lady, Margaret Sanders, who fell prey to a Nigerian fraudster, Benjamin Akugbe, has commended EFCC for retrieving her money. The Sherman, Texas-based Sanders gave the commendation after she was presented with a cheque of $2000 by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). She expressed delight at the professionalism demonstrated by the Nigerian agency in helping to recover the money which she thought she had lost to the scammer. The FBI agent, who made the presentation, according to Uwujaren, also lauded the cooperation with the EFCC,

Sanders

Ndekwu

while explaining that the FBI only facilitated the repatriation of the money after it was recovered by the EFCC. Sanders met Akugbe online and fell in love with him. The scammer who claimed to be Benny Brown from Warri,

Delta State, promised her marriage, and requested for $2,000 to enable him to join her in United States. The money was wired to him through Western Union, into an account with the name, Gladys Ikpoba, domiciled with

Man helps robbers wipe off stolen vehicles’ details

Lagos CP, Kayode Aderanti

Juliana Francis

etectives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State have arrested a man who has been

making it easy for suspected robbers to snatch and sell cars. The suspect, Felix Olayinkalu, used to assist a suspected gang of robbers to wipe off snatched vehicles’ registra-

tion details from computer at the licencing office. Olayinkalu was apprehended after some robbery suspects, arrested by SARS, fingered him. A police source said the suspect was probably part of the gang, working at the licencing office, but he insisted that he was not a robber. He also denied working at licencing office. “The suspect’s job is to wipe off owners’ information from the computer at the licensing office and input fake details. Once he does that, the car automatically becomes a Tokunbo, instead of a stolen one. Thus, any person who buys it can go and register it. It won’t show that it had been in the system before or was stolen,” the source said. According to the gang, many of the vehicles snatched are always given to Olayinkalu to prepare the documents. Olayinkalu reportedly

said: “I’m not a ‘staff ’ of licencing office. I have people working in licencing office, who I give money to do the work for me. Once I give them money, they would give me code or password to wipe off the information.” The suspect said that he used to collect just N50,000 from the suspected robbers to do the job. He added: “I don’t need to take the vehicle in question to the licencing office. All I need are the engine and chassis numbers. I normally use the licencing office at Kirikiri area.” Police recovered five number plates from the suspect, a laptop and a fake Electronic Central Motor Registry (ECMR) document. According to the police source, the suspect listed the names of his accomplices and claimed he had done it only five times for the gang.

Seven-month-old baby, three others killed in Aba auto crash Peter Osondu ABA

hree persons and a sevenmonth-old baby reportedly lost their lives in an auto crash involving a tricycle and a Pilot Hilux van in Aba, Abia State yesterday. The accident, according to sources, occurred at noon opposite Rowmay Hotels on the ever-busy Opobo-Ovom Road

on the outskirts of the town. Witnesses said that the Hilux van belonged to a popular Aba businessman, who lives near the scene of the accident. A witness, who refused to disclose his name, said “the escort van belongs to Starline Industries. The car, which was speeding, was coming from Opobo Junction and was using its siren before it collided with the tricycle

Fire guts 10 stores in Warri Gabriel Choba

ire yesterday broke out at No. 2, Erhihovwere Street, Okumagba Avenue, Warri, Delta State and de-

stroyed properties worth over N10 million. One of the victims, Mrs Joy Anyahi, said she was asleep when she was called on the telephone about my

coming from Ovom.” Another witness said: “The driver of the Hilux van was trying to overtake a car and when he suddenly saw another car coming from the opposite direction, veered off his lane and collided with the keke (tricycle) on the other lane. “The keke tumbled while the passengers were trapped inside it. We rushed to the scene immediately to assist them, unfortunately before 1am on Wednesday that the building housing her store had gone up in flames. She said: “Before we rushed to the scene, the fire had already gutted 10 stores including property worth over N10 million. It took the efforts of Good Samaritans to put out

help could reach them, three persons out of the four inside the keke were already dead. A baby also died at a private hospital. “The driver of the keke was seriously injured. It will take the grace of God for him to survive because the injuries he sustained were very severe. He has broken bones.” A police source confirmed that three adults and a baby died in the accident. the fire after many hours.” The landlord, Chief Edukuye Ikpeni, called on the state government, the Federal Government and other agencies to come to their aid of the victims. He said the victims had no means of livelihood again.

a new generation bank. After an endless wait for the fiancé, Sanders came to the sad realisation that she had been duped. But her efforts to recover the money were unsuccessful until she petitioned the EFCC.

JUSUN’s strike, causing cell congestion –Police Camillus Nnaji

he strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has led to the congestion of several cells in Lagos State. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Kenneth Nwosu, said this during an interview with our correspondent. He said that a quick and lasting solution should be sought, to ensure an immediate end to the strike. According to him, the strike has made it impossible for the police to arraign suspects, thus constituting cell congestion. He said: “Definitely, JUSUN strike is affecting police prosecution of suspects. It has affected suspects being charged to court and granted bail. Since these actions can’t take place, the suspects continue to be in cells. And yet crimes are committed and suspects apprehended every day.” Nwosu said that the police work hand in hand with the judiciary, adding that the strike was now posing a challenge to speedy work of the police. JUSUN embarked on an indefinite strike on January 2, demanding implementation of court ruling in favour of financial autonomy from the government.

Nwosu

News

TWIST The road to Agodi Government House is paved with intrigues Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

ltercations between Oyoy State Governor Abiola Ajimobi and Senator Rasidi Ladoja, over the latter’s alleged refund of N500 million as plea bargain over the misappropriation charge against him, took a new twist yesterday as the former

SOUTH WEST

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ladoja sues Ajimobi for N10bn governor slammed N10 billion damages on the sitting governor. Through his lawyer, Biodun Abdu-Raheem, the Accord Party (AP) governorship candidate has sought for N10 billion damages from Ajimobi, a retraction of the publication which said that he had refunded the said money to the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and an apology within seven days, failure of which the gover-

nor should be prepared for a court action. Ajimobi had claimed in a publication that the state government had received N500 million from the EFCC as the proceeds of a plea bargaining between Ladoja and the anti-corruption body. It claimed that Ladoja also returned some vehicles. The former governor had, however, denied the allegation, attributing the claim to an attempt to smear his integrity ahead of next month’s election.

A copy of the letter dated January 14, 2015 and addressed to Governor Ajimobi, entitled; “Re: Oyo State publication in the Nigerian Tribune of January 14, 2015 on pages 10, 11 and 12 and The Nation newspaper on pages 7, 56 and 57 captioned N500 million EFCC refund by Ladoja: Face of Ladoja, the serial liar - demand for N10 billion damages, retraction and apology,” was made available to newsmen in Ibadan, yesterday. “For the umpteenth

time, our client denies in its entirety the allegation by your government that he made the refund as alleged or at all to the EFCC. Our client demands of you to make available any document directly tending to show that he made such payments and for the purpose alleged, that is, plea bargaining. “Take notice sir, that failure to act as requested above, we have the instruction of our client to seek redress in court,” the lawyer said in the letter.

L-R: Chairman of the occasion, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie; former Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Muiz Banire; Lagos State Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye and Human Rights Activist, Mr. Femi Falana, at the 11th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Lecture and 2nd Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch Gani Fawehinmi Integrity Awards in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Crisis hits Ogun Labour Party over guber candidate Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

head of the February elections, crisis have hit the ranks of the Labour Party (LP) in Ogun State as two candidates yesterday laid claim to the party’s governorship ticket. While the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has submitted the name of a maritime consultant, Comrade Abolaji Sunmola, as the LP governorship candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a former state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Sina Kawonise, insisted that

he remains the gubernatorial standard bearer. The state secretary of LP, Sunday Oginni, who spoke with reporters in Abeokuta yesterday, confirmed the candidacy of 54-year-old Sunmola. According to Oginni, the LP substituted the pioneer chairman of the party whose name was earlier submitted as the governorship candidate with Sunmola. He also announced a retired teacher from IjebuOde Local Government Area, Alhaja Bolanle Bonojo, as the governorship candidate’s running mate. Oginni said the LP national leadership has the final say on the choice of

governorship candidate. “We looked at the curriculum vitae of all the aspirants before we chose Comrade Sunmola because he is a unionist and a labour leader of maritime force. We need somebody from Ogun State that is independent. We believe his candidacy is a total break from the past,” he added. But reacting, Kawonise said it was illegal for the party’s NWC to submit the name of another person as the gubernatorial candidate. In a statement, the former commissioner threatened to drag the matter to court, saying he had assembled his team of lawyers to seek redress.

Lagos defends N10, 000 exam fee Mojeed Alabi

he Lagos State government yesterday debunked the allegation of imposing N10, 000 entrance exam fee on the people of the state in its sale of forms for the screening test for admission of primary six pupils into Model Colleges/Upgraded Junior Secondary Schools for the 2015/2016 academic session. It said the practice is not a new development. In a statement issued yesterday by the Ministry of Education and signed by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jide Lawal, the government said unlike the admission forms into model colleges, admission forms into its 348 junior secondary schools are free and attract no other charges. It also added that both the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) and the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), which it accused of championing the allegations, were not adequately informed of the modalities and the reasons for the fee. The statement reads in part; “It is pertinent to point out that the fee cannot, in any way, bring hardship to parents as the screening tests into model colleges/upgraded colleges are for parents who wish to have their children and wards in these colleges that are indeed boarding schools.”

Amosun: I’ll defeat Isiaka again Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

gun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday said he would defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Prince Gboyega Isiaka, in next month’s general election. Speaking with reporters when he took his reelection campaign tour to Imeko-Afon Local Government, where Isiaka hails from, Amosun said he was not perturbed about his PDP opponent. According to the governor, he would defeat Isiaka the same way he did in

2011, when the PDP standard bearer contested on the platform of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). Amosun, who visited the 10 wards in ImekoAfon, promised to build on the achievements already recorded by his administration, if re-elected. He said his administration’s sterling performance had been vindicated by the comment of President Goodluck Jonathan, who during his visit to the state on Monday, said 56 industries had opened shop in the state in the last three years. On the controversy trailing the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs),

Amosun said he supported the resolution of the House of Representatives, seeking the use of Temporary Voters’ Cards (TVCs) as alternative for the February general election. He warned that many Nigerians risked being disenfranchised if nothing is done to address the poor distribution of PVCs by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The House of Representatives had on Tuesday, unanimously adopted a motion, urging INEC to amend election guidelines to allow Nigerians with TVCs vote in place of their PVCs.

to push out such lies after close to four years of his administration. According to him, “I left N12 billion in the state’s coffers without any loan or debt. If he knew such a claim was true, why did it take him

almost four years before making such allegation? He should concentrate more on how he spent the alleged N100 billion the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the state had collected as allocation.

‘My administration left N12bn in govt coffers’ Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

s expected of politicians during electioneering campaigns, the former governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo

Alao-Akala and the incumbent, Abiola Ajimobi, have been locked in a war of words over the financial status of the state. While Governor Ajimobi said his predecessor spent N3 billion in the last week of his

administration in 2011, Alao-Akala dismissed the allegation, saying that he left N12 billion in the state’s treasury on the eve of his departure. Alao-Akala defended his position in a statement signed by his Di-

rector of Public Affairs, Oludare Ogunlana and made available to New Telegraph yesterday in Ibadan. He urged Ajimobi to stop hood-winking the public, asking why it took the governor so long

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

General election

I’ve not endorsed any candidate – Soyinka

Violence-free poll

PDP commends Jonathan, Buhari on peace pact

Akwa Ibom

Presidency

Akpabio has put opposition in a fix –Ukpe

Jonathan, Buhari not the best for Nigeria – Balarabe

Politics

Towards violence-free polls Ahead of the February 14 and 28 elections, different groups and personalities are advocating for a violence-free elections, writes TUNDE OYESINA

s the February general election draw near, stakeholders have in several fora have advocated for a violence-free election before and after the polls. Speaking in one of the fora, former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, cautioned politicians over inciting statements capable of heating the polity and causing violence before and after the general election. Anan, who is presently the chairman of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, spoke in Abuja while delivering a keynote address during the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room round table on the “Role of civil society in ensuring electoral integrity” organised by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC). Anan noted that every election since 1999 has been fraught and marred by violence. “Nigeria has the largest black population of any country on the continent and has the biggest economy. It plays a major role on the international stage, especially at this time, when it holds a seat at the Security Council. Nigeria is one of the largest contributors of UN peacekeepers.

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

L-R: Nwankwo, Anan, Onaiyekan and a guest

“You must stand as one against Boko Haram. We must reject their evil ideology. We are in the same boat. Boko Haram’s vicious and brutal tactics have no place in the civilized world. “No cause, I repeat no cause, can justify such brutality, murder, or kidnapping of innocent children, women and men. “I also urge politicians and their supporters to be careful with their language, for words can inflame, incite and provoke. But they can also calm, soothe and reconcile. “Nigerians should remember that their destiny is a common one, whether you are Muslim or Christian, Northerner or Southerner, for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the All Progressives Congress (APC).” Also speaking at the roundtable, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, described corruption as a major threat to election in Nigeria. He, however noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) is a culprit as far as corruption is concerned, adding that some of its officers do compromise. He further stated that the judiciary among others also contribute to corruption during the electoral process. “I am not saying that the entire INEC or all the judges are corrupt. But there are some INEC officials who compromise, they mix up documents. So also,

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

The greatest threat to our democracy is posed by the composition of the political class... people who have continued to threaten the very foundation of the existence of our democracy

there are some judges who compromise justice,” Omar added. Also speaking, the Executive Director of PLAC, Clement Nwankwo, stated that Nigerians need to be sober because of the inflammatory rhetoric by the politicians, as such is capable of bringing another round of violence. The chairman of the occasion, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan noted that since the return to democracy in 1999, the country has not recorded a free and fair election. “Instead of the record to improve, it is getting worse. If this continues, it is dangerous. Even if one wins in a free and fair elections, such a person still doesn’t have the right to rule. “Noise makers in the electoral process should leave us alone,” Onaiyekan stated. Representatives of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) called for an issue-based campaign. Also at a different forum, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah said the greatest threat to the country’s democratic enterprise are politicians. Kukah made the disclosure while speaking at a workshop on the forthcoming general election, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja. “There is the need to make the point that the greatest threat to our democracy is posed by the

composition of the political class. The political space has been occupied by very many undemocratic and undisciplined people; people who have continued to threaten the very foundation of the existence of our democracy,” the clergyman disclosed. Kukah noted that no matter how well prepared INEC and the security agencies might be, these characters are bent on foisting their undemocratic tendencies on the system. He decried the imposition of political office holders on the people. “Indeed, not INEC or ordinary Nigerians pose a threat to our democracy. The imposition of candidates is the show of the grandmaster’s will in the electoral process. “This scenario is worst at the state level, and the governors have never learnt the lessons of imposition of candidates. The will of a few triumphs over that of the majority. “Our preparedness will be based on identifying some criminal tendencies like rigging, disenfranchisement of the electorate, various strategies of manipulating the system, and the connivance of officials associated with the electoral process.” He further explained that the question over the country’s readiness for the elections should go to the electoral umpire rather than the Nigerian electorate. Also speaking at the event, chairman of the NBA’s Committee on Voter Education and Mobilisation, Joseph Daudu (SAN) lamented the resort to violence by politicians in the course of campaigning. He condemned the recent shooting of party supporters from political rallies in Port Harcourt as well as the burning of opponents’ vehicles and houses. NBA President, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) admonished the electorate to resist the allure of gift items from politicians. “How we determine the direction of the elections will determine our fate in the next four years. We need a government that can attend to our needs; address our insecurity challenges,” the NBA President declared. On his part, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who was represented by, Director of Voter Education, Mr. Oluwole Osase, said the legitimacy of every election lies with the electorate.

Politics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

I’ve not endorsed any candidate – Soyinka Felix Nwaneri

obel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday disassociated himself from reports that he has endorsed a presidential and governorship candidate for the forthcoming general election. He, however averred that whenever he chooses to declare support for any candidate, which is his electoral right, he will ensure that he

deploys a medium that places his authorship beyond dispute. There were reports that Soyinka had endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Major General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the presidential election. But in a statement titled ‘Identity Thieves and the 2015 Election Peace Accord,’ Soyinka

warned those spreading the rumour of his purported endorsement of politicians “to be less gullible, and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry.” The statement read in part: “Let me thus seize the occasion of the Abuja Accord to state categorically that I have never made a statement endorsing any presidential or governorship contestant. All such attributions are fabrications by faceless, often

self-appointed agents of deception, and should be publicly pilloried. “Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate – as is my electoral right – I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute.” On the peace pact signed by the presidential candidates of the parties contesting the elections on Wednesday in Abuja to ensure violence-free polls, the Nobel Laureate described it

Beware of Obasanjo, Fayose tells Nigerians Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has warned Nigerians to be wary of the banana peel being thrown on their path by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the nation prepares for next month’s presidential poll. In a statement in AdoEkiti yesterday, the governor said Nigerians should beware of the former president’s intention regarding who should be elected president during the election and

his recent romance with some opposition leaders. According to Fayose, Obasanjo should also be watched for his romance with some leaders in the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) despite claiming to be a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “Nigerians should be wary of Obasanjo’s banana peel. He was the one who put forward Umaru Yar’Adua as the president knowing the man’s state of health and the man died in office. He was the one who said President

Goodluck Jonathan was the best for Nigeria and that without him there would be no Nigeria. “The question people should ask former President Obasanjo is what has gone wrong between now and then? He is against President Jonathan because the president refused to be pocketed by him and any Nigerian leader who wants to succeed will not allow that. “Obasanjo is now presenting General Muhammadu Buhari as the best candidate for Nigeria knowing the man’s age

and that the pressure of office would be too much for him,” he said. Fayose said Obasanjo only wanted to plunge Nigeria into needless crisis, just like he did during the Yar’Adua era. “In the North, there are so many qualified, brilliant and credible people who can rule the country well. Why is Obasanjo going after an old horse that may collapse midway. Nigerians should know the state of health of Buhari. His age and health cannot stand the rigours of the office,” Fayose said.

as a “positive step in the direction of democracy.” He commended the efforts of a former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan and a former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in ensuring the success of the accord. Soyinka noted that the peace pact, if adhered to with sincerity, will ensure a wholesome space for future elections, and avert further violence.

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

“It might even come close to what the democratic ideal should be, as canvassed by others, including Governor Babatunde Fashola a few years ago,” he added.

I’m not too old to govern Lagos, says Agbaje Wale Elegbede

overnorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has taken Governor Babatunde Fashola to the cleaners for dismissing him as “too old” to be governor. Agbaje said at 57, he is not too old to govern Lagos. Describing the charge as spiteful and hypocritical, the Agbaje Campaign Team in a statement issued yesterday said it is ironical that such a charge originated from Fashola, whose party was currently fielding a 72-year old retired General as its presidential candidate. “This is pure and unprovoked attack. Instead of engaging in this degrading mudslinging, APC and its henchmen should embrace issues-based campaigning. “Agbaje was born on

March 2, 1957 to a banker father, Chief Julius Kosebinu (the first Nigerian Director of a bank) and Mrs. Margaret Olabisi, a teacher. “It only shows that APC is bereft of creative ideas, so it should cede the administration of Lagos for fresh minds. Agbaje represents that fresh mind that Lagosians have been yearning for,” Felix Oboagwina, Agbaje’s Director of Media and Publicity, said. According to the statement, it was a pity that the APC chieftains failed to address the misgovernance of Lagos, characterised by poverty, unemployment, industry emigration, over-taxation and the deportation of non-indigenes. It also said it was also a pity that the APC campaign at Ikeja Police College on Wednesday could only produce insults to a single individual.

Benue: Vigilante group intercepts bus with INEC ballot papers Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi L-R: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade; Prince Goddy Jeddy-Agba and Governor Liyel Imoke at the inauguration of the PDP Governorship Campaign Organisation in Calabar, yesterday.

Vote wisely, Okogie tells Nigerians Akeem Nafiu

ormer Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, yesterday urged Nigerians to vote wisely in the February elections. He noted that Nigeria was on the brink of collapse and needed only the truth to salvage her. Okogie, who yesterday chaired the 11th annual Gani Fawehinmi’s lecture, called on Nigerians to rise above religious and

ethnic sentiments and rescue the country from corrupt and inept leadership. He said this in Lagos where lawyers across the nation gathered to honour the late Fawehinmi at the 11th annual lecture organised by the Ikeja branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). He said: “This time does not allow for indifference. Nigerians need civic education to think and act right and only those who know what to

do should sit at the helm of the nation’s affairs, enough of nepotism and mediocrity.” Also, an activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana berated the two leading presidential candidates, President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari, describing a nonviolence poll pact entered into as a mere waste of time. Instead, Falana tasked Nigerians to ‘stand up for what is right’.

According to him, the non-violence poll pact was not only a waste of time but an exercise in futility as none of the players could be made to account for any uprisings that may arise after the elections. This, he said, was irrelevant as the responsibility of politicians was to ensure that electoral offenders and the nation’s enemies were prosecuted “rather than signing an accord that will never work.”

bus loaded with ballot papers stocked in bags was yesterday intercepted by a vigilante group in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State. An eyewitness told New Telegraph that a Volkswagen bus with Abia State registration number HAF 641 XA was intercepted on Thursday with no security operatives accompanying the vehicle at about 3a.m. Our correspondent gathered that the bus was spotted by some vigilante group officials who were on duty, adding that upon searching the vehicle, they saw stocked sacks of ballot papers alleged to have

been thumb printed in favour of a particular party. New Telegraph gathered that the bus was later handed over to police in the area. But the command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP John Bako, who confirmed the report, said the ballot papers were used ones which officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were retrieving to pave the way for new ones preparatory for the forthcoming general election. The Public Relations Officer of INEC, Mr. Ochai Louis, stated that the approval to retrieve the ballot papers was given by the commission to avoid problems that may arise during the forthcoming general election.

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

PDP commends Jonathan, Buhari on peace pact Onyekachi Eze Abuja

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended the nonviolence pact signed by the 14 presidential candidates standing for next month’s presidential election. The party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh yesterday, specifically commended its presidential candidate, President

Goodluck Jonathan and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari for signing the pact, saying that this is in line with the irrevocable commitment of the PDP to peace and progress of the nation at all times. It said that PDP has already in the last one week of campaigns, demonstrated its resolve for peaceful polls by ensuring that its members adhered strictly to its code of conduct on violence free polls.

“It is timely therefore to urge the leadership of the APC to move beyond signing of the peace pact to genuinely taking practical steps to rein in members, especially, the horde of brigands already on the loose in parts of the country, or be held responsible for any failure,” the statement said. It noted that with the completion of the APC campaign rallies in the South East and South South without slightest incidence of harassment or violence, the PDP has

emphatically demonstrated its unflinching resolve for peaceful campaigns as well as ideological stricture to plurality of opinions and electoral choice even in areas considered its most impregnable fortes. “We hence advise the APC to take a cue and urgently forestall plans by miscreants acting in its name to disrupt PDP campaign rallies in some parts of the North. APC must withdraw its violent prone membership from the red line,” the statement concluded.

Rep seeks postponement of elections

Philip Nyam Abuja

member of the House of Representatives from Borno State, Hon. Kyari Gujbawu (PDP), has called on the Presidency to consider shifting the February elections due to insecurity in the North-East. Gujbawu, who made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, also tasked the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that people of the troubled geopolitical zone participate in the elections when it eventually holds. He said the conduct of the general election and

the participation of the people of the area will reassure them that they still remain part of the entity called Nigeria. He argued that it will be difficult to conduct free and fair elections in some parts of his state because “it’s an open secret that more than 70 per cent of Borno is inaccessible to any government agency.” He, however, appealed to the Federal Government to do everything possible to enable the INEC conduct elections in the North-East in the event that a postponement is not possible, adding that “only 10 per cent of the population is Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

APC’ll give Buhari 40 million votes – Gaya Muhammad Kabir Kano

hairman, Senate Committee on Housing, Senator Ibrahim Kabiru Gaya has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would mobilise 40 million votes for its presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari in the February presidential poll. “Out of the 68 million

Lagos State governorship candidate, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jimi Agbaje and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Akinwunmi Ambode at a debate organised by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Diocese of Lagos West. PHOTO: TONY eguaye

We’ll surpass Fashola’s performance – Candidates Temitope Ogunbanke

ine governorship candidates in Lagos State yesterday promised to perform better than the Babatunde Fashola administration if they win the February 28 governorship election. Speaking at the 2015 gubernatorial debate organised by the Diocese of Lagos West (Anglican Communion) at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral (AVMCC), Ikeja, the gubernatorial candidates promised to provide qualitative education, health care, security, employment opportunities and infrastructure. At the debate, All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said his mission is to provide security, create jobs and integrate other sectors to allow the economy of Lagos to thrive. He said with the tradition of performance and competence in Lagos State in the last 15 years,

the people of the state need an experienced person like him to continue the good programmes of the previous and present administrations in the state. He said Lagos State is not for experiment and therefore urged the people of the state to vote an experienced candidate like him, who served the state passionately for 27 years as a civil servant. His words: “My vision is to have a safe, clean and more prosperous Lagos State that is driven by quality service, equity and justice. Lagosians are looking for somebody that can take them to a more prosperous Lagos State. We will create Lagos State that will work for all. I will provide strong leadership. I will be accountable to people of the state. “We will give people all the good tenets of governance and allow people to have voice and participate in what governance is all about. We will create opportunity

that will allow people to thrive more comfortable than you have ever done. We will give people selfless service.” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, said that his administration will provide mass housing scheme, economic empowerment, infrastructure and transparent leadership. Agbaje said: “My vision for Lagos State is to create a global megacity of well-educated, healthy, skilled people living in a secured and prosperous environment. I will also focus on primary education and vocational skills which has been neglected. I will provide security of life, property and the environment. I am also going to provide mass housing scheme, economic empowerment, infrastructure and transparent leadership.” Mr. Bolaji Ogunseye of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) said his administration will grow small scale businesses.

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

The National Conscience Party (NCP) candidate, Comrade Ayodele Akele promised to tackle insecurity by creating jobs for the unemployed. Chief Victor Adeniji of KOWA party said that his administration will ensure security and see to the welfare of residents. Other gubernatorial candidates at the debate were: Pastor Kayode Jacobs of the Mega Progressives People’s Party (MPPP), Mr. Ishola Aregbesola of the Action Alliance (AA), Akinola Obada of the Independent Democrats (ID) and deputy governorship candidate of Labour Party, Pastor Biodun Popoola.

votes, we in the APC are targeting 40 million, because we know we are going to have it. We want to ensure that General Buhari gets the required votes for him to clinch the presidential seat.” Speaking with reporters yesterday at the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) Press Centre in Kano, Gaya said no Nigerian would be disfranchised in the general election.

Minister leads Jonathan campaign Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

inister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed yesterday inaugurated an eight man campaign team for President Goodluck Jonathan re-election bid. Members of the committee included the minister as the chairman, Senator Philip Aduda, Minister of State for the FCT, Ms Olajumoke Akinjide, Yahaya Suleiman, Zephaniah Jisalo, Danladi Etsu Zhin, Hassan Abbas Grema and

Bitrus Kura. The minister urged members to assiduously move from door-to-door throughout the nooks and crannies of the nation’s capital to canvass for votes for all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in the election. He remarked that President Jonathan is committed to developing the FCT, adding that the time has come to appreciate that the massive development delivered by his administration such as the expansion and rehabilitation of the Airport and Kubwa roads respectively.

Accord‘ll douse tension – Aliyu Dan Atori Minna

iger State governor, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that the accord entered into by the presidential candidates of all the parties taking part in the February 14 election will douse the tension in the country. According to him, “I am

happy that our President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari and indeed other candidates signed the violence-free pact. “The violence-free accord signed will not only stop vicious campaign comments which could becloud the conduct of a free and fair election but will definitely ease the tension in our democracy.”

Politics

Anietie Ukpe is the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio. In this interview, he bares his mind on various issues including the forthcoming general election and the emergence of Mr. Udom Emmanuel as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, among others. ETAGHENE EDIRIN reports Do you think the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the election in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has what it takes to step into Governor Goodswill Akpabio’s shoes? Certainly, Governor Akpabio is leaving behind very large shoes and they will be hard to fill. But if anyone has what it takes to create a seamless transition and maintain the momentum of development, then that man is undeniably Mr. Udom Emmanuel. He comes to the job with a strong set of skills acquired in the banking industry – an industry built on trust, integrity and competence. He is a quintessential banker and he was a shining light in the banking industry. He is a square peg in a square hole. What strategies have been put in place by Akpabio to ensure that there is continuity of his developmental agenda beyond 2015 in the state? Governor Akpabio did what he did for the good people of Akwa Ibom State. What he has done is phenomenal and unprecedented. This is largely like causing your children to acquire education. How they use it would determine whether they were worthy of it. You do not need strategies to ensure that they use it well; you can simply advise them and hope for the best. That is what Governor Akpabio is doing. He is advising the good people of Akwa Ibom State, and trying to ensure that they take the right steps to ensure the continuity of his uncommon transformation of the state. It is the duty of the people to ensure that this continues. Let’s talk about the various legacies that will be left behind by Akpabio. Governor Akpabio has put the opposition parties in a fix. They find it more convenient to talk about what he has not done than to talk about what he has done. But no administration can do everything. They claim that there is hunger in the land. Okay, if there is hunger in the land how come with all the good roads in Uyo built by the Akpabio administration, we now have traffic jams. Uyo never used to have traffic jams before the advent of the Akpabio administration. Uyo never had the kind of high rise build-

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Akpabio has put opposition in a fix – Ukpe Akpabio is one of the ardent supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan. Governor Akpabio deeply appreciates the transformational leadership of President Jonathan. The Jonathan administration has done so much for the country. Those who try to blame him over the Boko Haram insurgency miss the mark. He has done his best to contain the insurgency and, it is a matter of time, the insurgency will stop. He has explored every avenue to stop it. Governor Akpabio sees in him a true democrat, a patriot, a statesman and someone who means well for Nigeria.

Ukpe

ings sprouting up now. He has done so much that the difference between his administration and other administrations in the state is like the difference between midday and midnight. Let’s simply say that at every stage in the life of an Akwa Ibom person he is feeling the impact of government. Within eight years of stewardship of Akpabio what is the area he has affected the lives of the people of the state most? It is the free and compulsory education programme. This was like God turning again the captivity of His people – thousands of children of school age who were in servitude outside the state returned to go to school. School enrolment tripled. Street trading and hawking by children during school hours is prohibited in Akwa Ibom State. Education monitors go around the state to ensure that all children are in school. If any child is caught not in school during school hours, his guardians risk prosecution. This programme has been applauded by many dignitaries including Prof. Wole Soyinka. The government of Akpabio scored a major point with the construction of Nest of Champion stadium, what maintenance plan has been put in place to ensure that the project does not waste away after Akpabio’s tenure? A 10-year maintenance deal has been signed with Julius Berger to take care of the maintenance of the structure.

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

APC is an alternative to disgruntled and desperate PDP politicians, but not an option to the good people of Akwa Ibom State. The political tide has not changed

How do you see the senatorial ambition of Governor Akbabio? This is a peoples movement, not the ambition of Governor Akpabio. The people of the senatorial district came to him and solicited for his candidacy. He obliged them. You could not have a treasure like Akpabio and not want to show him to the world. He would be an asset in the Senate. For too long we had been under-represented in the Senate. Now we have a man who the elements so mix in him that when he goes to the Senate we could go to sleep and know that we have an asset in the hallowed chambers. The Senate too will be proud to have such a man in their midst. With the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, how prepared is PDP in the state to win the elections? APC is an alternative to disgruntled and desperate PDP politicians but not an option to the good people of Akwa Ibom State. The political tide has not changed. Whatever the name, whether APC or ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria), we have seen these “Egyptians” before. These “Egyptians” we see today we will not see them again after the elections. They will retire somewhere to lick their wounds in defeat. They were stronger in the media as ACN in the 2011 elections, but they were just a media creation without any weight in the state. We have heard and seen their story before. It is much huff without puff.

What is responsible for the cordial executive-legislative relationship in Akwa Ibom? The members of the House of Assembly represent the people. When the people of the state are happy with the government and proud of what it is doing, you cannot expect the House of Assembly to go against the tide of public sentiments. That is the major reason. More so, the House members are partners with Governor Akpabio in his uncommon transformation of the state. In his 2015 budget address, Governor Akpabio summed up the sentiment between the administration and the House of Assembly thus, “it would be noted that this House was the factory we brought our ideas to for incubation and production. It was here we gave our ideas wings to fly. It was here that uncommon transformation soared to heights of acclaim. As you know, it takes two wings to fly and the two wings in this case were the Executive wing and the Legislative wing.” Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the PDP governorship aspirant, appears to be facing some resistance from some politicians in the state, why is that so? All fair-minded people in Akwa Ibom State understand their selfish concern. The same group of politicians are looking at Emmanuel as an incarnation of Dr. Clement Isong. They know he would definitely perform but they are worried that, like Governor Akpabio, he would not sacrifice the public good at the altar of their selfish ambition. They see themselves as the owners of Akwa Ibom State, as some kind of Board of Trustees of the state. They do not want any person who would not come and patronise them. So far they have not faulted Emmanuel in anyway. They have not said that he would not perform as governor. They have only been claiming that he is not a politician. The other claim is that he enjoys Akpabio’s support. They want someone who would bring back the days when they had a government in place, which awarded political contracts to them.

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

ment of the election unless there is an agreement that there would be a Government of National Unity before the election can hold. In other words, the PDP should agree to the fact that they cannot perform and instead of them endangering the country, there should be a Government of National Unity involving all the political parties. So you believe in a Government of National Unity. Under normal circumstances, instead of having an election which cannot lead to a legitimate government or an election which will lead to violence and so on, we should have a Government of National Unity involving all political parties.

Musa

Jonathan, Buhari not the best for Nigeria – Balarabe Alhaji Balarabe Musa is a former governor of the old Kaduna State and chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he says there is no guarantee that the general election will hold. He also speaks on the state of the nation, insecurity, presidential election, and corruption, among other issues The February 14 presidential election has been narrowed down to President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC). How do you see the development? That is incompetence and fascism. The choice is between two parties; PDP and APC; that is incompetence and fascism. Both presidential candidates are not qualitative alternative because the two represent incompetence and fascism, and they are not alternative. That is why we are seeking for a genuine alternative to PDP and APC. The alternative is possible; let Nigerians think seriously. We are thinking about it seriously, let the rest of Nigeria think seriously about it and bring it about by any peaceful means. Which platform is the alternative? There is an attempt now to form a third alternative to PDP and APC. How far have you gone in forming the alternative platform? It has not gone too far but it will emerge. If the platform has not been put in place about 30 days to the general election, do you think it will make any meaningful impact in the election if

eventually put in place? If we try our best and it doesn’t work, it means that Nigerians will be left with two options; either continuation of incompetence or fascism.

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

Both presidential candidates are not qualitative alternative because the two represent incompetence and fascism

In its quest to prosecute next month election effectively, the PDP last month raised N21 billion at a fund raising in December 2014. What is your take on this? It proves the level of corruption in the country. It shows that government is encouraging corruption instead of discouraging it; that is the PDP and that is what I mean by incompetence. Is it wrong for a political party to raise funds for its presidential campaign? It is not a question of been fair or not; it shows that the PDP is encouraging corruption and it shows that the party is equally corrupt because the money they raised didn’t come from the labour of those who donated it. The donation was a product of corruption, particularly when you take into account the people who made the donations. For instance, how can my friend, Jerry Gana, raised N5 billion, other than from corruption. The source must be from corruption. The PDP fund-raising is a product of corruption; those who donated during the fund-raising donated part of their corrupt money.

Some people believe Buhari will provide change considering his antecedent as Head of State. Do you think so? We are not talking about the past; we are talking of the reality of today. I believe we should talk about reality of today and not what was in the past. Nigerians know the reality. The reality and the truth is that neither of them is a good alternative for Nigerians. Don’t you think the security challenges might affect the general election? With the present situation, there is no guarantee that next month elections would hold and even if it hold, it will not be free, fair and transparent leading to a legitimate government. Why do you think so? For instance, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not credible and has not relatively worked towards free and fair elections because up till now, INEC is still battling with the issue of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and millions of people are yet to have their legitimate voting cards. With the security challenges, would you support Pastor Tunde Bakare’s call for the postponement of the election? I don’t support the postpone-

The non-presentation of Buhari’s educational certificate to INEC has generated controversy in the polity. What is your take on the issue, especially now that there are calls that the APC presidential candidate should be disqualified? Why should the issue of educational certificate of Buhari’s certificate arise now? Somebody who has been Head of State and presidential candidate on three consecutive times and now you are talking about his certificate. Why are you now talking about the certificate of somebody who attended the highest military school in the world and has reached the level of General in the Army and has even become the Head of State of Nigeria? It is nonsense and it doesn’t make sense. So the matter is strictly political? The issue is fully political and it is irrelevant and diversionary. Recently, 54 soldiers were sentenced to death by the military authority after been found guilty of mutiny. What is your take on that? I can’t talk about that. Leave the army alone and let them deal with the problem of insecurity in the country. Certainly, I will leave that to the army leadership. I don’t want to talk on that. There is a problem in the country and the problem has to be dealt with. There have been crises in the legislatures in Ekiti, Edo, Rivers and the House of Representatives. How do you see the scenario? It means the system doesn’t work. The system is collapsing and the leadership is rotten. How do we savage the situation? I am concerned about the leadership created by the system and the negative state of the nation brought about by the system and the leadership. The system is wrong completely because it is based on self-interest first, public interest second. And that is directly responsible for the negative state of the nation as characterised by poverty, unemployment, insecurity, insurgency, collapse of public services, etc. What about the issue of corruption? Corruption was brought about by the system and the leadership produced by the system. It is like Nigeria is moving towards a two-party system? No, there is no two-party system; it is only one party system, the PDP. The APC is only an appendage, a lonely opposition.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion

Sense in solidarity against insurgency

Emissary EMEKA OBASI

emobas2003@yahoo.com 08094457557 (sms only)

hank heavens the world is in the eyes of all, as we live in a global village. Penultimate Wednesday, the blue skies of Paris were turned crimson red by three young men who made what looked like a movie premiere and ended up as part of the tragedy that stopped it all. In two separate but related events, the trio of brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibally, went trigger happy, snuffing life out of about Seventeen men including three police officers. Condemnations trailed the gruesome event as the world united with France to mourn the dead. Infact ,the world was frenchified and Parisians gathered to speak out as much as their compatriots. What struck me was the solidarity. The French had lost less than Twenty citizens in that attack and almost everyone from Paris to Lens, to Marseille came out to denounce the atrocity. Even leading muslims showed their displeasure. Here we are in Nigeria, faced with insurgency and losing thousands of our country men and women regularly. The first reaction is always to condemn President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We play a lot of politics with disaster that you begin to wonder if some of us take delight in the bomb blasts. It does appear to me that those who are not happy that they are out of power have ready- made speeches which they deliver a few seconds after every bomb blast. A good detective could even go ahead to probe the timing of the these bombings and the rapidity of the press releases. In Nigerian politics of the Yahoo Plus era, nobody wants anything good for the country, just to make ruling difficult for Dr. Jonathan. Those against his tenure are in a hurry to damage the country beyond redemption. I wonder who they want to govern . In Paris, we all saw the Solidarity march that attracted such world leaders as British Prime Min-

ister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as well as the presidents of Palestine,European Commission,European Council, the Prime Ministers of Israel, Spain, Denmark, Poland and Spain. They all joined hands with host Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Queen Rania of Jordan was not left out. The Malian President impressed the world. He had received strong French support when terrorists troubled his country. And even when family tree linked one of the gunmen Coulibaly, to his country, Keita stood with the mourners. Another hero with Malian blood, Lassana Bathily saved lives when his African French brother drew blood. The young supermart worker put some shoppers in the fridge to save them from bullets. President Jonathan has never enjoyed this kind of support. Some Nigerians are ever willing to hear news of massacre in Baga, Gwoza and Damaturu so that they continue to score political points against the Jonathan administration. Less than 20 French men and women killed in one day, and the world is moved. France is united and all are singing Viva La France. Flowers have become so common that even pets would like to join this line of grief. In Nigeria, insurgents behead more than 100 compatriots in 24 hours and the media is awash with condemnation of the president. Many critics have no harsh words for the assassins. They say nothing to friends and families of the headless corpses. In some instances, Nigerian troops are blamed for not been men enough to confront equally well armed ,if not better equipped fighters. The French lost three police officers to the gunmen. The people joined President Hollande to give them a befitting farewell. It was live on television, seen all over the world. In our country, insurgents behead military officers, slash the throats of state security officers. Some politicians blame the armed forces and para military for not doing and dying enough. No one talks about burying them as heroes. They are called cowards. Yet, they died trying to protect us from danger.

In France, Coulibaly was riddled with 40 police bullets. Do that in Nigeria, someone will threaten to take the security chief to the International Criminal Court. These are signs that those who blame the President for not been hard enough are the ones whose reactions always come in handy after every attack in the North-East. There is freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution, so when we ventilate anger, there is every reason to allow sanity to prevail. Mujaheeden Asari- Dokubo, Government Ekpomupolo and the other Niger Delta militants confronted the government over the plight of the coastal states. They never hid their identity, they were well known and their kinsmen could go to the Creeks to say a word or two. The sight of Edwin Clark could soften the Ijaw bundle of emotional energy. An at last, they got amnesty from a president from the North. What we have today is air. Just catch a tarter. Nobody knows the face of the insurgents. Their leader has a name. That is the only clue. Whether he is tall or short is not certain. He has died so many times and he continues to resurrect. The elder statesmen who want Amnesty for the insurgents from a President from the South are not even North enough to talk to them. What we hear is Bring back our girls, go to Sambisa forest. Nobody has volunteered from the North to lead the way. And they say Jonathan is not doing enough. Terrorism has gone beyond opposition politics. President George Bush invaded Afganistan after the Nine Eleven bombings in 2001. The number of Americans that died is child’s play compared to what Nigeria has lost as a country under the insurgents. Should Jonathan send troops to clear the North –East, politicians will scream genocide. My take is that events in France call for sober reflection. Terrorism is a global problem that even the so called giants of the world have to live with. It is time for all to join hands with President Jonathan to tackle the menace . It is not Jonathan’s war. It is a national burden. And if we do not back Jonathan now, there may be no Nigeria for the noise makers to rule.

Daily Times: Issues before new Lagos DPP Bonaventure Melah

rs. Idowu Alakija was appointed the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) barely three

weeks ago. By all standards, Alakija is a woman of substance and a rare gem. This is in view of her well respected family background, numerous academic qualifications and excellent track record of service from 1984 when she was called to the Bar to her current position. She was the pioneer Head/ Director Citizens Mediator Centre, Lagos State. An alumnus of various first-grade institutions across the globe, she was at Lansdowne Tutors London; University of Lagos; Queen’s Mary and Westfield College University of London; International Law Institute, Washington D.C. and Harvard University, Boston. The new Lagos DPP is a member of International Association of Prosecutors and the International Bar Association; An Associate Member of both the Institute of Taxation and the Chartered Institute of Mediators and Conciliators. It was in recognition of her very

rich experience and quality contributions to development that she received the Lagos State Award of Excellence in 2003. In view of the above, it is therefore surprising that the first major assignment Alakija has taken barely three weeks after her appointment was to direct that a fresh case bothering on theft and sale of Daily Times property be commenced against Folio Communications Limited and their owners, the Anosike brothers. The action of the new Lagos DPP is curious because this allegation had been recycled several times and taken to various courts in the past. In each case however, the allegation was thrown out by the courts on grounds that it lacked merit. The courts had arrived at this conclusion because both the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) that sold Daily Times on behalf of the Federal Government have testified before the courts that Folio Communications Limited duly bought and completely paid for Daily Times following a transparent process of privatisation; and in accordance with the laws establishing the two bodies. Is it not trite law that a man cannot

steal what belongs to him? As a flash back, the genesis of this case was a criminal prosecution initiated by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) against Folio Communications Limited and the Anosike brothers following a petition by Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, a minority interest holder who is alleged to be interested in Daily Times of Nigeria on the basis of a loan DSV, a company he owns gave to Folio Communications. In trying to prosecute the case, the AGF had referred the petition to the Inspector General of Police for investigation. In a letter written to the AGF dated 6th May 2010 and titled ‘RE-FINAL REPORT, THE CASE OF FRAUD IN THE DAILY TIMES NIG. PLC (CRN NO:94/10),’ the Inspector General of Police had directed that ‘The case be regarded as a civil case in nature.’ Seeing that his efforts had hit the rocks, the AGF transferred the case to Lagos State. Some analysts had suggested then that the AGF had transferred the case to Lagos hoping that the Anosike brothers would be at a disadvantage on the basis of ethnic sentiments. Following the transfer, the office of the Lagos State Government Direc-

tor of Public Prosecution took up the matter at an Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Habeed Abiru. But after several months of delay and uncountable number of adjournments at the instance of the DPP’ s office, Justice Abiru on May 7, 2012 dismissed the case while berating the Prosecution for shadow chasing and dragging innocent people around. The learned Justice had added in his ruling that “If your home is not tidy, why should the people outside suffer?” Three years down the line, a new Lagos State DPP has directed that another round of litigationbe commenced against Folio and its owners. This is coming after these hard working Nigerians have brought Daily Times back to the news stand across the country in spite of the numerous obstacles placed on their way by enemies of progress including dozens of suits that have gulped millions of Dollars. Daily Times which made a big comeback few weeks ago is now better packaged with richer editorial contents. • Melah is an Abuja based journalist, author and public analyst. He can be reached on email: melahbonaventure@yahoo.com

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

EDITORIAL

Our VISION To build a newspaper organisation anchored on the sanctity of truth.

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

A media partner of

Sanctity of Truth

Our MISSION To publish a newspaper of superior value, upholding the fundamental ethics of journalism: balanced reporting, fairness, accuracy and objectivity.

Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

Nations Cup without the Super Eagles

he 30th edition of the African Cup of Nations starts on Saturday (tomorrow) in Equatorial Guinea. A total of 16 African countries will be competing for honours for 21 days in the event which is the biggest football spectacle on the continent. It all started in 1957 in Sudan with only three countries. They were Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. Egypt won the event. Interestingly, the Egyptians are the record holders with most wins. The Pharaohs have won seven times. They are followed by Cameroun and Ghana with four wins each. The two countries are in the 2015 edition seeking their fifth title. At individual level, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroun is the all-time highest scorer in the competition with 18 goals. Eto’o is still playing at top level in England but has retired from international football. Nigeria is among the 14 countries that have lifted the trophy. The country is rated ninth by FIFA on the continent and 43rd in the world. This is one of the Nigeria’s lowest times on the rankings yet, ordinarily, the Super Eagles should have been among the African best teams. Mali, Zambia, South Africa, Congo DR, Congo, Gabon and

Stephen Keshi led a bunch of arrogant and over-pampered players to the qualifiers and they surprisingly failed to lift their game to win a ticket Burkina Faso are not even in the top 10 on the continental rankings but these countries will file out from Saturday to thrill the continent. Stephen Keshi led a bunch of arrogant and over-pampered players to the qualifiers and they surprisingly failed to lift their game to win a ticket. With Congo, Sudan and South Africa in same group with Nigeria, it was thought that the Eagles would cruise to the Nations Cup final with ease but the national team fumbled and finished third in the group as South Africa and Congo picked the tickets. The crisis in the team started from the World Cup in Brazil but it further degenerated especially with the leadership tussle in Nigeria football. Things went so bad and the centre could not hold until it was too late to save

the situation. The reality will stare everyone in the face when other teams begin hostilities in Equatorial Guinea. Over the years, Nigeria has a good pedigree in Africa such that qualifying for the Nations Cup should be the least of the problems. The technical deficiency of Keshi was one of the causes that affected Nigeria. As three-time winners and with the array of stars at home and abroad, we make bold to stay the Nations Cup should be the birth right of Nigeria. The football federation and the handlers of the Super Eagles have failed to take advantage of the youth in various cadres- the age limit national teams and the various academies in the country- and also the domestic league. Attention is mostly on stars that have made names abroad. Nations Cup period is going to be very agonising for Nigerians but the lesson to be learnt is not to over rely on foreignbased stars. All positions in the team should be competitive without sentiments. Some unfit players fielded in the last match against South Africa in Uyo led to the unsatisfactory 2-2 draw recorded in a winnable home match. African Football legend Kalusha Bwalya said last week

in Lagos that the absence of Nigeria would be a big miss. CAF President Issa Hayatou also stated that it would be a big minus to the competition. Imagine the likes of Vincent Enyeama, Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emenike and Keneth Omeruo missing the Nations Cup just two years after a victorious outing in South Africa 2013. No doubt, it is a sad development but life must go on. The task of rebuilding the tattered team must be taken seriously and we believe a new coach is needed to chart a new course. Football is football any day. It could be tough but we encourage fans of the game in Nigeria to enjoy the 2015 Nations Cup WITHOUT the Super Eagles. Nigerians are always united during a period like this and it is also believed that crime rate is usually low when there are major competitions involving the national teams. It is better to focus on the expectations of what the likes of Yaya Toure and other stars will offer in Equatorial Guinea. The Eagles might bounce back to win in 2017 just as it happened in 2013 after missing out of the 2012 edition. Who knows? Even without Nigeria, the competition will still be full of thrills and frills the round leather game is associated with.

DAILY TELEGRAPH PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief

Eric Osagie

Editor n Yemi Ajayi

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editor n Emeka Obasi

Deputy Editor n Ayodele Ojo

Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

Ag. Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi

News Editor n Geoffrey Ekenna

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed

Sales/Circulation Manager n Oyebanji Abiodun

Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

Politics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Goodluck Jonathan: A clueless president? Uzochukwu Okafor

have been thinking seriously on why President Goodluuck Jonathan is constantly being derided and abused by a few but vociferous individuals. The most recent being that emanating from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest book, ‘My Watch’. But what now propelled me into contributing to this debate is the article written by Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, who I have very high regard for since our student days at the Uni-

versity of Nigeria Enugu campus. In that article captioned “A Clueless president,” he stated how an African friend he had not seen in years asked him about his foolish and clueless president. This demonstrates the need for us to remain decorous even in instances of very sharp disagreements. Quite often, Nigerians complain of disrespectful treatments at the airports by immigration and customs officials. There is a saying in Igbo land to the effect that when you de-

scribe your cooking pot as useless, people will treat it as rubbish. As we approach the February 14 presidential election, the denigration of the office of the president is being escalated. The launch of the book, My Watch, by former President Obasanjo was seen in this light by many commentators. The opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is also determined to do maximum damage to President Jonathan and the office of the President. The utterances from

its leadership need a lot of moderation and scrubbing. They have also at various times described Mr. President as clueless and one who runs an auto pilot government. The radical changes promised by President Jonathan during his campaign were captured in the Transformation Agenda document. Programmes identified in this document will be used to evaluate the government of President Jonathan to see if his government can be described as clueless and running

on auto pilot. An important barometer of a viable democracy is the sanctity of the voter’s wish. When late President Umaru Yar’Adua took office, he acknowledged that his election was largely flawed and vowed to clean up the electoral process. President Jonathan who succeeded him have not disappointed in this regard. It is to his credit that subsequent elections have been largely declared as free and fair by international observers. Another important index and benefit of de-

mocracy is the freedom of expression, freedom of association and statutorily guaranteed access to information. Under President Jonathan, freedom of speech has remained unencumbered in spite of some unwarranted abuses his government has suffered. President Jonathan remains to date the most demonized, abused and derided president Nigeria has ever had. But it is to his credit that he has never used the security apparatus at his disposal to persecute any one. One can also acknowledge that he signed the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill into law, a bill that the previous governments avoided for years. The transformation agenda of Mr. President, if implemented faithfully, will no doubt significantly improve Nigeria economy. But we must be mindful of the fact that its impact and success rests on tackling the monster of corruption. One therefore, cannot fairly evaluate this administration without assessing its approach to addressing the issue of corruption. Although Nigeria has improved slightly with respect to the perception index of Transparency International, perception of corruption in Nigeria is still high. While there is often a mismatch between perception and reality, one cannot ignore perception. The truth is that Mr. President needs to demonstrate that his government abhors corruption. While I agree with Mr. President that dealing with corruption is not about parading people on the television but devising creative and systematic means of addressing it, there is still need to combine the long term measure of Mr. President with some short term prescriptions. One short term measure could be initiating an executive bill to set up tribunals dedicated to trying cases of corruption. It is important to note that the policies and programmes of Mr. President are in sync with his transformation agenda which was the basis of his election in 2011. In conclusion, I would leave it to the reader to determine if a government that started with a transformation agenda hinged on Vision 2020 and further developed National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), and the National Enterprise Development Programme upon which the various programmes are being executed is running an auto piloted and clueless administration. •Okafor writes via uzo31@yahoo.com

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY,JANUARY 16, 2015

Culture

Media

Promoting indigenous fashion for national development

Africa remains hugely undiscovered, says Gathanu

FG pledges support for private sector involvement in culture, tourism

Tourism

Arts Mentoring, important aspect of CULTURE

education, acculturation –Osundare

rofessor Niyi Osun- Renowned poet, playwright and literary critic, Prof Niyi Osundare added dare is still relishing the euphoria of the Ni- another feather to his cap when he was awarded the Nigeria National Merit gerian National Merit Award for academic excellence recently. Though happy for the honour, the Award (NNMA) for academic prolific poet, in an interview with EBERE AMEH is terribly unhappy because excellence, which he won last year. Reminiscing on his joy according to him, Nigeria has lost it. at meeting and mingling with former laureates of the same award at the presidential villa, the prolific poet said it was a humbling and flattering experience. “When I was embraced by former laureates, I trembled. I held J.P. Clark and Professor Alagora by the hand. Prof Laz Ekwueme, Chukwuemeka Ike, Ayo Bamgbose, Akin Mabogunje were all there. Ayo Banjo couldn’t come because of the family bereavement. I felt I was surrounded by genuine intellectuals. That is one group in this country that I am so proud to be a member of. It is a humbling and flattering experience,” Osundare said. A holder of numerous awards for his poetry, as well as the Fonlon/Nichols award for “excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa,” Osundare is so remarkable that followers of his literary exploits are already clamouring for a No- Osundare bel prize. However, acknowland because the human frame edging their importance and tremely grateful that this has is very tender, we have to nurhappened. Whatever is in my contribution towards makture it. It’s like a young tendril, ing him, he thanked them for future, I hope will be positive. if we expose it to too much of I keep working and working wishing him well and promcritical heat, it will wither. But hard.” ised to keep working. at the same time you don’t have A great friend of the “I pray for good health, ento pamper it. If it is wrong you ergy and very importantly, the youths, Osundare was indon’t have to say no, you are volved in youth mentoring in good will of people, because right. Balance, tending, nurturif you are a writer and you Ekiti State. He still sees menTeachers are ing, encouraging are all very toring as a very important have no reader, you are nothimportant.” important. A ing. One thing that has over- aspect of education, which Osundare recalled how he however, has not been accordwhelmed me since I got this good teacher was well guided by his late unaward is the kind of reaction I ed the seriousness it deserves cle, Chief Tayo Ayodele and how is essentially a have gotten from people; from in Nigeria. he was also guided by one of his “Mentoring is a very imAustralia, China, Zimbabwe, mentor. I have teachers to utilise the opportuportant aspect of education and Nigeria here, I didn’t nity of a university scholarship one big ambition, know I have so many friends. and acculturation. I wouldn’t in the University of Leeds, Enghave been where I am today Right now, I have over 400 mesI don’t want to be land. sages that I haven’t even had if I hadn’t been lucky to have “That was how I got to Leeds good teachers and good menjust a teacher, I time to respond to. I am exon university scholarship. I was tors. Teachers are important. also want to be an there for one year, got my masA good teacher is essentially ters in nine months, came back a mentor. I have one big ambiinspirer in1974 and began my career as tion, I don’t want to be just a a university teacher. Two years teacher, I also want to be an later, I had to go back for a PhD. inspirer. We are all human This time, I went to Canada, beings; we have our highs TONY OKUYEME again on university scholarship. and lows. You could destroy tony.okuyeme@newtelegraphonline.com “My uncle didn’t just guide a whole human being with me academically; he taught me one negative adjective. We all © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company lessons in humility, generosity have to crawl before we walk; Limited

and love. I dedicated my first selected poems to him. I didn’t realise what he was doing for me when he was brothering and mentoring me. That was 1958 to 1961, up to the time I went to higher school. He was the first to go to secondary school in my extended family” Ever grateful to Nigeria for all the opportunities he had, he lamented the fate of the contemporary youth who though intelligent, has little or no opportunity to excel. “Nigeria has done so much for me. So much that I consider myself a lucky person. And if I’m angry at all, it is because this country is not been able to do enough for the young people. I am not a giant, neither are others, like Osofisan. We are who we are today because of the opportunities we we’ve been able to get. “We were in school when the educational system of this country was extremely good. When I got to the University of Leeds after my first degree here, I just walked snugly into the programme because our standard here was international. These days, foreign universities don’t accept Nigerian graduates even with their first class because our educational base is extremely weak. I am in the system and so I am not apportioning blames, but we need to do more.” Giving possible reasons for the poor performance of the students, he insists that it can be remedied to a large extent through mentoring. “Many children don’t have stable families; many don’t have educated parents, so they rely on outside people. In the past it was just the teachers; today, many of the teachers have been destabilised. You are lucky if you get somebody who is both a teacher and a mentor. “Achebe wrote Things fall Apart when he was 28, Wole Soyinka wrote his most complex play today, Dance of the Forest, when he was 26, without a second degree. How many 26 yearold Nigerians today can do that? We have very bright young men and women today but the system has destroyed them; everything has been monetised.” An ardent believer that there is no choice for the African poet but to be political, Osundare CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Arts

FRIDAY,JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FG pledges support for private sector involvement in culture, tourism Tony Okuyeme

ourism, Culture and National Orientation Minister, Chief Edem Duke has pledged the support of the Federal Government for private Investment in Tourism Development. He also called on well-meaning individuals and groups to invest in the development of tourism in the country. The Minister made the pledge when he visited the massive Smoking Hills Golf Course and Resort in Ilarin Mokin, Ondo State, on Friday. The 18-hole Golf Course is owned by the Chairman of Elizade Nigeria Chief Ade Ojo who is a native of Ilara Mokin. Accompanied on the visit by the Artistic Director of the National Troupe, Mr. Akin Adejuwon, the Minister who was impressed with facilities at the golf course and resort noted that tourism, apart from offering good returns on investment, creates jobs and other opportunities for the investor and the community. The Minister said that the tour to Ilara Mokin afforded him the opportunity to appreciate some of the attractions that Chief Ade Ojo has developed so as to find ways of helping in its promotion and development. Ojo who received the Minister and the Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, later took the Minister on an inspection round the golf course and resort. Done with the golf course, Chief Ojo led the way for a tour of Elizade University owned also by Chief Ojo. The well laid out school is tucked right inside the town. “This is one private university that I have seen that is built like universities you will find in Europe,” the Minister said after he was taken round the senate building, the student hostel and the staff and Vice Chancellor Lodge. On his impression of the visit, the Minister who had earlier

I see the opportunity of the Mare festival held annually here in Ondo growing into a one week festival, where after being a part of the festival, you can come to the golf resort and even drive to the Ikogosi Warm Spring and enjoy some of the other offerings around Ondo state

L-R: Duke, Ojo and Adejuwon

noted that the Jonathan administration has encouraged a relatively stable culture and tourism environment in the country described the experience of the visit as ‘overwhelming’. He said, “the environment, the undulating hills, the smoking hills and indeed the experience is completely overwhelming. I think this is a programme and a project, which not only the Federal Government of Nigeria will provide the support in terms of infrastructure, working with the state government, but we will do our utmost to ensure that, that is possible. I see the opportunities here for tourism, hospitality and cultural development, I see the synergy not only of this golf course but also a synergy and a circuit that can be built around most of the tourist sites in Ondo state and neigbouring states like the Ikogosi Warm Spring which is not too far away from here. And I see the various towns and communities around here providing the source for the development

of local cuisine and the service industry that will bring value. I also see the University providing the opportunity for young people to grow into golf and the potential of having an inter university circuit. I see a great opportunity in this resort, not only to grow championship golf tournament and golfers but also an opportunity for professional retreats by organizations that will like to develop strategy sessions and then go out to play a game of gulf and enrich their own experiences.” The Minister also sees the possibility of other events in the state running into days so that tourists can experience the warmth and splendour of the golf course and resort. His words: “I see the opportunity of the Mare festival held annually here in Ondo growing into a one week festival, where after being a part of the festival, you can come to the golf resort and even drive to the Ikogosi Warm Spring and enjoy some of the other offerings around Ondo

state.” The Minister commended Chief Ojo for his interest in the promotion of education, tourism and culture. He acknowledged Chief Ojo support for the annual Ondo Mare festival and for his support for the production of Kunle Afolayan’s big budget movie ‘October 1’, which was shot on location in Ilara Mokin. I think it is important for us to commend you. According to the Minister, ‘’I want to most especially commend Chief Ade Ojo, who has truly stood out as one of the leading lights in Nigeria business community. And I have always said to people, that no matter what kind of business you are in, the most enjoyable retirement is in leisure and entertainment. So it is a great opportunity to be here at Ilara Mokin’’. Chief Ojo thanked the Minister for the visit and expressed the hope that with the visit, a lot of support would be extended to the tourist attractions and to the community as a whole.

Mentoring, important aspect of education, acculturation –Osundare CO NTINUED FROM PAG E 21

lambasts the Nigerian politicians whom he said are not good role models for the youths. “The reason our political system is so rotten is because there is nobody to look up to. How many politicians in Nigeria today would I say I want to be like or encourage my children to be like? Is it people who preach stomach infrastructure, people who laugh at intelligence? “America is a country; any crisis point in her history, there is a man. When they needed to fight their way out of the British colonial grip, George Washington was there. When the country was to break away because of civil war over slavery, Abraham Lincoln was there and united the country. I wish General Gowon has been like Lincoln. But while Lincoln was Lincoln, Gowon was Gowon. They wasted all the possibilities of the civil war in Nigeria and that is why we are still in the bunk.

“There are people I call epochal individuals, these people are usually mentors and teachers and leaders. We have never had such people in Nigeria. People you will have to look up to and say ‘yes he is there’. “Manhattan Mohamed turned Malaysia into a first world country from a third world country. He was a medical doctor and look at what he did for his country. He was not just the president of his country; he was a great teacher and a mentor to millions of people. He invested Malaysia’s money in the development of the country. That is what makes the difference between a Nigeria today and a Malaysia.” Nkruma made a difference in Ghana, the couple of years he was there. When you go to Ghana today, you know a great leader, once upon a time, was here. Look at Singapore, Brazil.” Driving it home, Osundare attacked the current controversy over the retirement age of university lecturers, calling it a non-progressive agenda.

“Our universities don’t even know what mentoring is. Look at the way they throw out old professors. No serious university system does that. Of course, there are dead woods whom you just encourage to go, but people who are valuable, you keep them. Even seeing their names in your faculty list will attract scholars from other parts of the world. There is no age limit in American university. There are some kind of experience you cannot read in books, you cannot see on television and not hear on radio. It comes organically from the human being, from the brain. Countries that are serious about ideas treasure those people. You don’t just throw them away.” He is not happy with the way things are going. He said: “This is a good country. East, West North, what do we not have? We have so many natural resources. How can we live in the ocean and wash our eye with saliva? The reason is we don’t have leaders, we don’t have mentors; we have

thieves. Our politicians are thieves, let us ask questions about security vote, about constituency allowance, let us ask the senators what they take home every month. Let us ask questions,” he said. The erudite scholar noted that Nigeria has money but it is going into the wrong hands. “This is a rich country but we have poor citizens. So how can one be at peace in a country like this? This country has done so much for me. My mother never went to school. I am a farmer born, peasant-bred. The little I have been able to achieve, Nigeria helped me. Nigeria should be able to help more. We have the capacity. “We are too docile in this country, along ethnic, religious and so on but that is not the issue. People who steal our money don’t say you are Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa when they are stealing the money. In the past, if you stole and are put in prison, nobody from your family will be able to get a wife easily, you will be stigmatised.”

Media

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY,JANUARY 16, 2015

Promoting indigenous fashion for national development Ebere Ameh

igerian culture is as diverse as the ethnic groups that make up the country. Their assortment of mouthwatering dishes, variety of tongues and languages, array of exquisite textiles and designs and so much more are some of the things that make the country unique. Though these diversities are a plus for the giant of Africa, the people, instead of preserving, celebrating and using their unique heritage to promote national unity, are gradually abandoning it for western lifestyle in the name of civilization and globalization. A testament to the truism that people do not value what they have until they lose it. Looking at dressing for example, it is unfortunate that many still take to western fashion at the expense of our local ones. It is even more unfortunate that some churches and corporate organizations incorporated in Nigeria, insist on western dressing for their congregation and employees respectively, undermining the native way of dressing. While there is nothing wrong with wearing attires from other cultures, however, many believe that Nigerians have a way of wholesale imitation of cultures at the expense of their own is very worrisome. Little wonder Edem Duke, the tourism minister convened a seminar in 2011, titled, Dress Nigeria. The seminar had the aim to propagate the use of local fabrics thereby propagating Nigeria’s culture. At the event, participants from far and wide were always on hand to feature in the “Dress Nigeria” exhibition show. There was always an array of traditional fabrics, designed and embellished with precious stones, from diverse cultural backgrounds on display. According to Duke, Dress Nigeria is a “clarion call on Nigerians to start looking inwards and not just adopt Nigerian designs and fabrics for work, but adopt it for general purpose. Dress Nigeria will help to give vivid expression to our patriotism and promotional efforts on our indigenous fabrics and styles,” He said, encouraging all and sundry to take advantage of the “development opportunities being opened up by the creative industries by participating in the local market”. The Executive Secretary of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma Ayakoroma, reportedly expressed optimism that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, will eventually approve “our memo asking that civil

servants and public servants, even at the FEC level and legislative houses should ‘Dress Nigeria’ when they have sittings; that will surely promote the dress culture and textile industry. We expect that Nigeria will continue to patronise the fabric industry so the sector will bloom again”. “Dress Nigeria Day” came into national discourse in 2010 when NICO submitted a memo at the 7th edition of the National Council Meeting on Tourism, requesting the council’s approval to institute a national dress code in public offices as a systematic approach to promoting our culture and national identity among civil servants. The memo is yet to be approved by the Federal Government. It is also pertinent to note that in spite of the inherent advantages culture brings to many other nations, it has not featured prominently in the development of our nation.” NICO, a parastatal charged with the responsibility of harnessing the nation’s cultural heritage, has also at different fora continued to promote the dress culture of Nigeria for National Unity. The parastatal has resolved that they would use the outcome of her various events to sensitize the government on dress code based on the nation’s dresses, as a deliberate policy, as well as bailing out the comatose textiles industries in Nigeria financially, with a view to producing Nigerian dresses at affordable prices. Speaking at a special workshop on, “Repositioning Cultural Workers for Improved Productivity,” organised by NICO for staff of the Department of Culture, Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National

Dancers showcasing traditional attires

Orientation, Ayakoroma said that, workers need to dress to give them identity as a people, as “this rekindles interest and pride in our indigenous dress patterns, which encourages unity among different ethnic groups through integrated dress culture. It also encourages socioeconomic growth of local textile industries to create jobs for unemployed youths and promote patriotism. Thus, there are a lot of things to benefit when indigenous dress culture is promoted; its contribution to the economic development of the country cannot be over emphasised. Local fabrics can be used in manufacturing bags, sandals and other items and thus empowering local communities.” The contribution of the association of fashion designers in Nigeria, FADAN cannot be overemphasised. They have done well to come up with creative styles and production of fashion accessories, using the ‘indigenous’ fabrics. However, the fact remains that what we call indigenous fabrics may

Dress Nigeria is a “clarion call on Nigerians to start looking inwards and not just adopt Nigerian designs and fabrics for work, but adopt it for general purpose

not really be so in the strict sense of the word. Outside the adire, asoke, akwa ocha and a few other locally made materials, the rest are Ankara fabrics from other nations. Unfortunately and regrettably, our markets are flooded with textile from other small African countries, with flourishing textile industries. While we clamour for indigenous fashion, using indigenous fabrics, there is an even a more urgent and cogent need for the government to assist indigenous textile industries to thrive again. Many are of the opinion that the current obsession for carnivals as a means of attracting tourists is not even doing our culture any good. Instead of promoting Nigerian dressing, it has become another attempt at wholesale importation of Brazilian culture – a proliferation and endorsement of nudity. There is an urgent need to address the issue so organizers could come up with real style that showcases the culture of the different ethnic nationalities that make up the country. It is common knowledge that countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia and even, fellow African countries like Ghana and South Africa, to mention a few, take pride in their national attires produced locally in their countries. It will be a good idea if Nigeria could follow suit. In the Colonial era, one of the major revolutionary acts of our leaders was to be dressed in our indigenous styles especially at public and international appearances. There is a need for an urgent policy to revisit and revive our dress culture.

Tourism

FRIDAY,JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Africas tourism potential not fully tapped, says Gathanu Denis Gathanu, a Kenyan, is a publisher and owner of Safari Communications. He has travelled extensively within Africa including Nigeria where he has become a familiar face and done some work in the travel industry. He speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA on the state of the tourism industry in Africa and what needs to be done with particular reference to Nigeria in ensuring proper development of the industry while the people harvest its abundant yields.

Gathanju

What is your perception of African travel industry in terms of the prospects, promises and challenges? AFRICA remains hugely undiscovered. Tourism today is not only one of the fastest growing sectors but tourism is one industry that encourages social cohesion while at the same time helps drive businesses within the supply chain. These include everything from aviation, infrastructure development, agribusiness, fisheries, wildlife management and conservation, communications and so on. This means that tourism in Africa has a humongous ripple effect that spreads to other sectors of the economy and provides the potential of creating millions of jobs and supporting millions of families. This leads to a socio-economic revolution that will transform the continent for the better. The cultural diversity of Africa also needs to be appreciated and harnessed to the fullest. We have unique cultural communities practicing unique cultural traditions and these need to, not only be tapped, but maintained for the sake of future generations. The wealth of information from some of these traditions needs to be recognised before it dies down. The challenges remain, mostly a lack of infrastructure such as roads, rail networks, communications and investments. The fact that the services sector is not as developed in most countries in Africa is also a big challenge that needs to be tackled mainly through regional co-operation among African countries. What should Africans do to at-

One of the gushes of the magnificent Vic fall

Front view of Victoria fall

A cultural troupe from the northern part of Nigeria parade

tract more visitors and business to its travel industry? I think Africans first and foremost need to appreciate each other the most and also get to visit each other. This will create a catalytic effect that will not only help transform the lives of Africans through increased trade, but will also make us understand each other better. Through my travels, I have been amazed at how little Africans know about each other, yet some understand the histories of mainly western countries better than their own history. We now have one of the fastest developing middle-

class in Africa and this means that many Africans are now able to afford travel, and if we encourage crossborder travel without erecting walls through trade and travel barriers, then we will surely transform Africa. A case in point is the unnecessary air service barriers and huge airport fees and taxes that African airlines have to pay in some countries. These make air travel within Africa very expensive and therefore discourage travel. Sometimes it costs more to travel within Africa than say travel from Africa to Europe and Asia. Which are some of the Africa

countries you have visited over the years? I have had the pleasure of visiting almost half of the 54 African countries. Excluding my home country Kenya, I have travelled to Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Ghana. And soon, I will be visiting Cameroun, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Djibouti and maybe Eritrea. As a Kenyan, how well has your travel industry progressed over the years and what are some of the key or trending issues with the destinations? Kenya offers a diversity of travel products. It also boasts a wealth of experience, especially in training and service standards that have been developed over so many years. The country remains quite strong in its travel and tourism offering,

especially the beach and safari experience, but has gradually placed a greater emphasis on other tourism products over the last few years. These include the spa and wellness experience, adventure safari, ecotourism safari and the like. But what is also most impressive about Kenya’s travel and tourism industry is the added interest it gets from Kenyans themselves. Kenyans love to travel with friends, family and colleagues, and some travel alone to be with themselves only. You have been travelling to Nigerian for a while now tell us about your experience of Nigeria travel industry and suggestions for developing the destination and attracting visitors/investors? Nigeria is one very interesting country. The country has remained sort of largely misunderstood by the outside world, especially by most Africans. But to me, Nigeria holds a sort of mystical charm that can only be experienced by visiting this country. Like most African countries, Nigeria boasts wonderful natural landscapes dotted with rolling hills and valleys, but for me what really stands out about Nigeria is the food and culture of its people. Nigeria has some of the most dynamic traditional food varieties on the continent and this culinary safari need to be harnessed and developed further. The cultural aspects of the people of Nigeria also need to be celebrated. With more than 300 tribal communities speaking more than 300 different dialects, it makes Nigeria a cultural melting pot of some sorts.

Africa Hotel Investment Forum Returns to Addis Ababa

OR the second year running Africa Hotel investment Forum (AHIF) is making a return to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa for its 2015 annual conference. Billed to hold at the Sheraton Hotel Addis Ababa on September 30 and October 1, the same city and venue hosted the 2014 event, which was a record breaking event. With the importance many Africa countries now attach to the forum and the lobby by various governments to attract the event to their country because of its appeal to investors and many of the leading hotel international chains, once again getting the nod to

host the event back to back, is considered by many as a milestone for Ethiopia and certainly a boost for its economy. On why AHIF is making it back to Addis Ababa, the Managing Director of Bench Events, the organizers of the annual forum, Matthew Weihs, said: “AHIF 2014 was such a great success that we felt compelled to return. We were honoured by the presence of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister; we were inspired by the accomplishments of Haile Gebrselassie, one of the world’s greatest long distance runners; we were impressed by the media attendance (76 journalists on day one) and we were delighted

by the level of interest shown by the business community, with a record number of delegates, sponsors and many of the major global hotel brands announcing new initiatives and hotel openings.” On his part, the presi-

dent of Sunshine Business, Samuel Tafese, said: “Considering the considerable interest from other countries to host the Africa Hotel Investment Forum, to have secured the event for a second year is a huge opportuni-

ty for Ethiopia. Sunshine Business was delighted to sponsor the event last year and look forward to supporting it again. To have the chance to welcome international money and expertise to our country should not be missed.”

Honour roll of Carnival Calabar 2014 Cultural parade 1st Prize: Calabar Municipality 2nd Prize: Bakassi LG 3rd Prize: Odukpani LGA -

Kings/queens - Best Junior Queen- Freedom Band - Best Junior King - Seagull Band- Best Senior Queen - Seagull Band - Best Senior King - Masta Blasta Band-

Junior parade -Best Costume - Seagull Band - Reflection of Carnival Spirit- Seagull Band- Band of the Year - Junior 1st prize - Masta Blasta2nd Prize - Seagull Band 3rd Prize - Freedom Band -

Adult parade bands - Best Costume : Passion 4 - Best Truck : Passion 4 - Best Reflection of Carnival Spirit- Masta BlastaBand of the Year - Senior category 1st Prize- Masta Blasta Band 2nd Prize- Passion 4 3rd Prize - Seagull Band-

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Award

A parade of Oscars, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors’ awards

Audition

Etisalat’s Nigerian

Idol Season 5 audition commences

Entertainment Drumbeat of war in Nollywood over AVRS

On January 9, board members of the recently registered Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, AVRS, brainstormed in Lagos on ways out of the logjam with stakeholders. In an exclusive interview with Zeb Ejiro, OON, on the subject matter, he threatened to sue the body if they do not retrace their steps. Now that AVRS was unveiled late last year. What is your take on the society that is expected to put money in movie people’s pocket? The idea of Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, AVRS, is wonderful, but the approach is faulty. AVRS is supposed to be to the movie industry what COSON or MCSN is to the music industry. I will take you back to how it all began. 25 moviemakers met and came up with a concept, a constitution, and an article of memorandum of association on how the society is to function. in that meeting they agreed for an interim board members put in place at the end of the deliberation. Of particular interest is that the body put in place to see the registration through was supposed to function in an interim capacity. They are to function as temporary board members for the sake of the registration; and that at the end of the registration,

SONY NEME

EDITOR, ENTERTAINMENT sony.neme@newtelegraphonline.com

Zeb Ejiro

Mahmood Alli-Balogun

it would collapse, while a substantive board is elected from stakeholders in the industry. That is the agreement, because AVRS is a society for the industry. So who was supposed to oversee the elections of the substantive board? At the end of the registration, these group of 25 and a larger body were supposed to have met and constitute an electoral body that will serve as the umpire to oversee the elections.. But what we are seeing now is not what was agreed to. Instead what we are seeing is that automatically the interim body put in place has turned themselves into a permanent body with no tenure date at all. So they will be there for as much as they wish. Now that AVRS has taken off with board members under Mahmood Alli-Balogun, what is the way forward? They are supposed to hands off and get members elected. My position on that is that they have deceived the industry. They have to go back to the status quo; to the original agreement by the 25 people who put the papers together and get it resolved. They should call for an elec-

Transparency must be our watchword. We cannot agree on something else and some people seized an opportunity to do another thing entirely. It cannot work that way

tion. I have the documents and I will scan and forward same to you. The way forward is very simple. I remember that when the certificate was being given to them, when the man from WIPO was addressing them, he was specific on transparency. And what has been bedeviling this industry is lack of transparency. Today we are aware of the battle between Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, and Music copyrights Society of Nigeria, MCSN, which we must avoid in the movie industry, because whatever COSON and or MCSN is achieving for the music industry is far less from what musicians should earn if there was a unity of purpose. That we must avoid. Transparency must be our watchword. We cannot agree on something else and some people seized an opportunity to do another thing entirely. It cannot work that way. My own solution is that a broad based meeting should be called for us to go back to the basics, get this interim board dissolved and get a proper election be held to usher in an authentic board for AVRS. There will be a tenure stipulated for them, because there cannot be a CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

Ajayi: Enigma is platform for upcoming artistes

n the past two years Enigma, platforms that was set up for upcoming entertainers and industry has proved very valuable. It has lived up to its purpose for stakeholders to network and help in building this vibrant industry. This much was explained to the New Telegraph by the founder, Sandy Ajayi. The young showbiz promoter said that, “The Enigma variety night has rebranded and repositioned itself so as to give far more than previous years. as a result, new media deals have been signed, just as a partnership with the African fashion week Nigeria has just been sealed. She further stressed, “This will give young designers a platform to be discovered and showcased at the biggest African fashion show, which is coming up later this year in London. We are also improving on the quality of our weekly shows hence the need to have dedicated weeks for different segments of the industry” The calendar of event made exclusively available to New Telegraph, reveals that week one of each month was designated ‘Celebrity Birthday Week’ for celebrities and fans born in the same month. This avails fans the opportunity to have star studded birthday parties; while week two is Enigma artiste of the month for artistes with an admirable track record. This week also provides an interactive session after which performances will commence. Comedy night has week three, where young comedians share a stage with the likes of Bovi and Julius Agwu, while week four has been set aside for African Fashion Week According Ajayi, “We understand the business of entertainment so we have also started talks with agencies and brands that can support our platform and add value.”

Today is January Home Theater

ollywood stakeholders will today converge at the Co-Creation Hub in Yaba, Lagos from 6pm for the movie Mary and Martha. The much anticipated eventHome Theater event organized by Nollywood Workshops will be anchored Joseph Benjamin and Malaria Expert . The workshop is a non-profit organization with offices in Lagos, Nigeria and Cambridge, MA, USA. They produce media and campaigns that entertain, educate and inspire audiences throughout West Africa. Thir center serves as a hub for filmmakers and other media professionals who share our commitment to making a positive impact through entertainment. In addition to their productions, they provide training, events, advisory and grants to support the power of storytelling in Nigeria.

Entertainment

2015 GRAMMY Nominees Album Track List TAYLOR SWIFT "Shake It Off" • Record Of The Year • Song Of The Year • Best Pop Solo Performance

IGGY AZALEA FEAT. CHARLI XCX "Fancy" • Record Of The Year

ED SHEERAN "Sing" • Album Of The Year • Best Pop Vocal Album

ARIANA GRANDE FEAT. IGGY AZALEA "Problem" •Best Pop Vocal Album

MEGHAN TRAINOR "All About That Bass" • Record Of The Year • Song Of The Year

KATY PERRY FEAT. JUICY J "Dark Horse" • Best Pop Vocal Album

COLDPLAY "A Sky Full Of Stars" • Best Pop Vocal Album

MILEY CYRUS "Wrecking Ball" • Best Pop Vocal Album

SIA "Chandelier" • Record Of The Year • Song Of The Year • Best Pop Solo Performance

JOHN LEGEND "All Of Me" (Live) • Best Pop Solo Performance

HOZIER "Take Me To Church" • Song Of The Year

BEYONCÉ FEAT. JAY Z "Drunk In Love" • Album Of The Year

PHARRELL WILLIAMS "Come Get It Bae" • Album Of The Year

SAM SMITH "Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) • Record Of The Year • Album Of The Year • Song Of The Year • Best Pop Solo Performance • Best Pop Vocal Album

BECK "Blue Moon" • Album Of The Year

KEITH URBAN FEAT. ERIC CHURCH "Raise 'Em Up" • Best Country Duo Or Group Performance

THE BAND PERRY "Gentle On My Mind" • Best Country Duo Or Group Performance

TIM McGRAW FEAT. FAITH HILL "Meanwhile Back At Mama's"

• Best Country Duo Or Group Performance

MIRANDA LAMBERT WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD "Somethin' Bad" (Duet with Carrie Underwood) • Best Country Duo Or Group Performance

LITTLE BIG TOWN "Day Drinking" • Best Country Duo Or Group Performance

PHARRELL WILLIAMS "Happy" (Live) • Best Pop Solo Performance

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

2015 Grammy Nominees album ready, features 21 hits Stories by Sony Neme

ony Music Entertainment (RCA Records) and The Recording Academy’s GRAMMY recordings will be releasing the 2015 Grammy Nominees album on iTunes on January 20. It is expected to be in stores in South Africa at the end of the month. The 21st installment of the best-selling series features 21 top-charting hits from a diverse array of this year’s Grammynominated artists and songwriters. The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, February 8 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles According to Sony Music Entertainment contact, Conrad Schwellnus, in a mail sent from their Santa Monica, California, USA office, “The album includes many of the year’s prominent recordings and performers. It is highlighted by all of the nominated artists and songs in the high-profile Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year, as well as Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Country Duo Or Group Performance categories.’ Schwellnus stated that rotating labels from year to year, the collection is made possible by a special arrangement with all of the major music distribution companies. She further intoned that a portion of the proceeds from sales of the album benefits the year-round efforts of the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares Foundation — two

Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy

charitable organizations of The Recording Academy. She also quoted Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy.thus: “The exceptional mix of recordings featured on this year’s compilation not only represent a roster of incredibly talented artists but also provides a unique play-

list showcasing some of this year’s outstanding Grammy nominees. It is fitting that our 21st installment album contains 21 exciting selections, which music fans are sure to enjoy. We are proud and excited to collaborate with RCA Records on this project and once again look forward to another successful

Grammy nominees album.” For Tom Corson, President/COO, RCA Records “We are thrilled to work with The Academy on the 2015 Grammy Nominees album. This 21st installment highlights the amazing talent and hard work of this year’s nominees and will delight music fans around the world. It is a true celebration of music’s biggest night.” Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy. com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @ TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like “The GRAMMYs” on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs’ social communities on Google +, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and YouTube.

John Momoh, 2face, Pasuma, Mi for voter concerts

n advocacy group, Enough Is Enough Nigeria has announced that they will be hosting the first-of-its-kind voter education concerts in four major cities across Nigeria in preparation for the 2015 elections. The dates are expected to be made public this weekend. So far, renowned superstars such as 2Face, Pasuma and MI, with Ice Prince, Yemi Alade, Burna Boy and Reminisce among others have been confirmed to thrill young enthusiastic voters at these concerts. Organizers of the concert have also promised guest appearances from A-list personalities including Chairman/ CEO, Channels TV, John Momoh. According to Anita Aiyudu of Black House Media Group, the voter education concerts will hold in Kaduna, Jos, Owerri and Lagos will follow the first edition, which held in Port-Harcourt on December 12, 2014. She said, “These concerts will use music to educate voters on the need to partici-

Pasuma

pate in the election process. 15-minute interludes will also be used during the shows to promote the RSVP (Register, Select, Vote Protect) campaign. Entry will be free to those with valid voter’s cards while others will pay a token fee. EiE Nigeria will also be organizing a Presidential and Governorship election debate series called ‘The Peoples’ Debate’ which will hold in Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna, Imo, Rivers, Taraba as well as a Presidential debate in Abuja. We further gathered that, through its pre-election and post-election voter education strategies under its flagship

RSVP Campaign, EiE Nigeria hopes to increase the participation of young people between the ages of 18 – 35 (62.5% of those registered to vote in 2011) in Nigeria’s growing democracy. EnoughisEnough Nigeria (www.eienigeria.org) is a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to instituting a culture of good governance and public accountability in Nigeria through advocacy, activism and the mobilization of the youth population as responsible citizens. The coalition includes The Future Project; Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN); Education as a Vaccine

(EVA); Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND); LYNX Nigeria, Budgit, RISE Networks; Chocolate City Group and EME. EiE Nigeria created the RSVP Campaign to leverage technology, especially social media to mobilize significant participation from citizens in the 18-35 age bloc in the 2011 elections and beyond.

Entertainment 27

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Stories by Sony Neme

t is going to be camera, lights and action on DStv and GOtv as Awards Season kicks off with the live broadcast of the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. This is so as the busiest and most glamorous period on Tinseltown’s social calendar, Award season, will begin on DStv with the Golden Globe Awards followed by the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards on Monday, January 26 and the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 8; while Hollywood’s biggest night, the Oscars, will broadcast live on Sunday 23 February. It will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on M-Net Movies Premiere channel 103 and the delayed broadcast on M-Net channel. For GOtv subscribers, they get to view the awards on E! Entertainment on Channel 25. From Monday, January 12, DStv and GOtv Premium bouquet subscribers has been treated to an up-close and personal view of the world’s biggest entertainment stars celebrating each other at a multitude of glitzy award ceremonies. However, before the official ceremonies begins, E! Entertainment (available on all bouquets) will broadcast E! Live From the Red Carpet where Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic interview the stars about their glamorous red carpet fashion choices at 01:00 CAT. For subscribers who can’t get enough of fashion, Fashion Police will make its comeback with Fashion Police: The 2015 Golden Globe Awards on Wednesday, January 14 at 22:00 CAT on E! Entertainment.

CINEMAWATCH

Catch the 2015 Golden Globe Awards to Abbey (Radio/TV/Events Guide)Downton 16 — 23 HIGHLIGHTS see the nominated shows currently showTheJAN. Affair

A parade of Oscars, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors’ awards

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie Kathy Bates (American Horror Story: Freak Show) Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) Michelle Monaghan (True Detective) Allison Janney (Mom) Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Bill Murray (Olive Kitteridge) Jon Voight (Ray Donovan) Matt Bomer (The Normal Heart) Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) Colin Hanks (Fargo) Best Motion Picture, Drama: Boyhood Foxcatcher The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything

Tina Fey

ing on DStv channels scoop awards since on Monday, January 12 at 03:00 CAT on M-Net Movies Premiere (repeat at 21:30 CAT on M-Net). The nominees for the 2015 Golden Globe Awards: Best TV Series, Drama:

TINSEL’s Matilda expected from maternity leave

Martin Freeman(Fargo) Matthew McConaughey (True Detective) Woody Harrelson (True Detective) Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo) Mark Ruffalo (The Normal Heart)

ans of Angela Dede, played by Matilda Obaseki, one of the key characters on the series, Tinsel, are eagerly waiting for her early return to the tube this year. Obaseki who was temporarily replaced by Nigerian actress, Theresa Edem in Africa’s popular weekday soap, had embarked on maternity leave. The change, took effect on Monday September 29, 2014. Edem holds a degree in Animal Science and Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and a Certification in Acting from the Royal Arts Academy in Lagos. She has a background in television, film and theatre and has featured in a number of movies including Lonely Hearts, After the Proposal, The Antique, Take Back your Throne and Obio Iban. Viewers should be glad to welcome her back as they tune in to Tinsel on weekdays at 20:30 CAT on Africa Magic Showcase (DStv channel 151) to catch all the drama, intrigue, romance, deception and betrayal that the series brings to their screens. Shot on location in Lagos, set in the glittering and dynamic world of film production, Nigeria’s most successful soap opera Tinsel marries all the elements of drama, intrigue, romance, deception, betrayal and triumph into one thrilling ‘must watch’ series. Now in its fourth season, Tinsel continues to track the story of two rival film production houses whose fierce battles for box-office dominance sees them taking their rivalry from film-sets to industry boardrooms and everywhere in between. This drama series centers around the energetic and enigmatic Fred AdeWilliams, founder of Nigeria’s biggest independent film company Reel Stu-

dios who gets drawn into a battle of wills with daring newcomer Brenda Nana Mensah, whose beauty and intelligence is only surpassed by her drive to transform her film company, Odyssey Pictures, into a dominant force.. And she will stop at nothing. Brenda has installed a “weak link” in Fred’s company… a mole, and her exploitation of it sparks off a corporate war that vibrates through the entire film industry. What starts out as a power struggle between two influential studio owners soon grows disastrously out of control. No one is immune and everything is put to the test as these titans clash and destinies are changed, forever. With so much at stake, will Fred’s refusal to sink to his opponent’s level cost him everything he’s ever held dear?

Amy Poehler

Game Of Thrones House of Cards The Good Wife Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder) Claire Danes (Homeland) Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) Robin Wright (House of Cards) Ruth Wilson (The Affair) Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) Clive Owen (The Knick) James Spader (The Blacklist) Dominic West (The Affair) Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy: Orange is the New Black Girls Jane the Virgin Transparent Silicon Valley Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin) Lena Dunham (Girls) Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black) Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy: Don Cheadle (House of Lies) William H. Macy (Shameless) Ricky Gervais (Derek) Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) Louie C.K. (Louie) Best TV Movie or Mini-Series: Olive Kitteridge Fargo The Missing True Detective The Normal Heart Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie: Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Freak Show) Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman) Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge) Allison Tolman (Fargo) Frances O’Connor (The Missing)

Matilda Obaseki

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie:

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama: Julianne Moore (Still Alice) Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) Reese Witherspoon (Wild) Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) Jennifer Aniston(Cake) Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) David Oyelowo (Selma) Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Into The Woods Birdman The Grand Budapest Hotel St. Vincent Pride Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Julianne Moore (Maps To The Stars) Amy Adams (Big Eyes) Emily Blunt (Into The Woods) Helen Mirren (The Hundred Foot Journey) Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie) Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy Michael Keaton (Birdman) Bill Murray (St. Vincent) Ralph Fiennes(The Grand Budapest Hotel) Christoph Waltz (Big Eyes) Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice) Best Animated Feature Film: The Lego Movie How To Train Your Dragon 2 Big Hero 6 The Book of Life The Boxtrolls Best Foreign Language Film: Ida (Ida) Force Majeure Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Gett Tangerines Mandariinid Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year) Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game) Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Entertainment

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Etisalat’s Nigerian Idol Season 5 audition commences Stories by Sony Neme

nother opportunity beckons on undiscovered, young music talents for a chance in the spotlight at the Etisalatsponsored Nigerian Idol, as auditions for the 5th season of the reality TV music show competition commenced on January 10 in Benin City, Edo State. The event is in partnership with Optima Media Group and Pepsi. 23-year old Zibili Evelyn Ibhade, a waitress, had emerged winner of last edition of Nigerian Idol talent hunt show, while other past winners were Yeka Onka, Mercy Chinwo, Moses Adigwe in that order. The sponsors had while sounding a take off whistle, had said, “Etisalat is proud to provide a platform to discover and nurture raw talents. We expect to see excited, determined and extraordinarily talents at the auditions. Thousands of them did their best last season but this season, we are looking for a unique talent that stands out”. Head, Events and Sponsorships at Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, further stated that,“We will support them throughout the season and the winner would receive a brand new SUV, and a 7.5 million naira cash prize, amongst other rewards.”. Multitalented entertainer and pioneer Judge Yinka Davis is making a return to the show along with Afrobeat singer, Dede Mabiaku; and soul singersongwriter, Darey Art Alade, while Ill Rhymz would reprise his role as the presenter of the show. The first episode for Season 5 is expected to air in March, 2015. After Benin other auditions are expected in Port Harcourt on January 17, Abuja will have theirs on January 24, while Ibadan is January 31, before Lagos takes its turn on January 7 and 8. In the words of the Group Managing Director of Optima

CO NTINUED FROM PAG E 25

board that will be there perpetually. This must be agreed to by the entire industry. I do not like a situation where people will hijack a society that is meant for an industry and make it their personal property. it should be made open for everybody to see. Every member of the industry should be availed of the true certified copy of the papers as approved by CAC. It is their entitlement. Have you reached out to the leadership and what has been the reaction? I have personally asked them. I have reached out to Mahmood Alli-Balogun, the interim chairman, which is

Evelle

Media Group, Rotimi Pedro: ‘We are delighted to be able to create the right and unique platforms across different fields for Nigerians to take advantage of and maximize their potentials. We have successfully done this over the years on a global stage as the Idol franchise provides. Our further commitment is to work with more partners in achieving this.’ Nigerian Idol is the local version of the Idol series franchise. It is the second Idol franchise for the country as it was already part of Idols West Africa, which was also shot and produced in Nigeria. Auditions were open for every Nigerian between 18 and 28. The first season went on air in October 2010 and is shown on 15 different channels all across Africa. On March 27, 2011, 26 years old Oneyka “Yeka Onka” Gil-

bert Elizabeth Onwuka from Ohafia was announced the first Nigerian Idol ever over fellow competitor and favorite-to-win Naomi Ebiama. She was awarded the sum of 7.5 Million Naira, a recording contract with Sony, a car and an all-expense paid trip to South Africa. Prior to receiving a Golden Ticket in Lagos Onwuka unsuccessfully auditioned on two other occasions for the show. For the creation of the winning song the two finalists collaborated with award winning producer Jesse Jagz. In just 6 years of operations, Etisalat Nigeria has become a major industry player with a growing subscriber base of over 20 million in a highly competitive market. Its portfolio of voice and data-centric products include – easy starter, easycliq, easybusiness, Easyflex and easyblaze; all tailor-made to meet the needs of its customers.

Nollywood at war

told to be as transparent as possible. Now to your question; if they refuse to abide by the letters that established the AVRS, I will personally go to court. I am not just going to court to stop them, but to demand that the books should be made available for everybody to see, the accounts for all the monies received and monies spent must be tendered. We want to see the records. And if these are not done, we know what to do, because we have laws guiding such actions in this country. We have waited enough, and if by the end of this week we shall take the next step. they try to make some people look like trouble makers. Why cant we for once to things right. if after seven days from now they are still adamant, we will take the next line of action.

Zeb

what it should be until a proper election is done. So what is next if your demands are not met? Before I answer that, I will let you know that even NCC will not be happy with what they are doing. I was reliably informed that they were also

How Alibaba, Tuface, D’banj, OkeyBakkasi, tears selves apart apart

he much advertised premiere edition of the Ali Baba January 1st concert lived up its promise, as it turned out an evening of fun. The event began with a showcase of raw talents by some young up and coming comedians and musicians Their performances set the stage for the event proper, which had some of Nigeria’s top music acts and comic merchants taking the stage head on. Thereafter, Ali Baba took to the stage to honour six outstanding Nigerians - Chief Mike Adenuga who was recognized for being the first indigenous telecom operator in the country to ASP Chioma Ajunwa, Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist and Chief Akintola Williams, Nigeria’s first chattered accountant among others. The award presentation ushered in the main entertainment with Timi Dakolo, before veteran comedians like Yibo Koko, Okey Bakkasi and Basorge Tariah, with Gbenga Adeyinka the 1st, Tee-A. Others were Koffi, Yaw, Bovi, Seyi Law and Senator. Their task was to review the event and personalities of the years past in the most insightful and comic way possible. However, the comedians did not shy away

from ripping the host, Ali Baba apart with the major damage done by Bovi. Ali Baba’s roast, which appeared to be too harsh for the comedian was, however, a planned session by all the comedians who had unanimously decided to take on the King of comedy with the excuse that had it been him, he would have spared anyone, had the table being turned. The major highlight of the night was the awesome performance by a not too popular, Abuja based comedian, Ambassador Wahala. The comedian whose real name is Lukumon Oni Olarenwaju was spectacular in his perfect mimicking of Nigeria’s first lady. Ambassador Wahala was so perfect that a blind man in the audience would have thought that the first lady was actually on stage. Stepping off the stage, Olarenwaju became and instant sensation that everyone in the audience and particularly the VVIP including the first lady and ovation publisher, Dele Momodu sought to take pictures with him. As the night wore on, it was obvious that majority of the audience had been yearning for such a superb evening as many stayed back to actually see the end of the show.

SHOWBITS

Listed below are issues from the entertainment industry that is trending • Nollywood shame Love Triangle: Oge Okoye, Nkiru Sylvanus Fight Dirty Over Stanley Duru • Alicia Keys has welcomed her second child, another boy named Genesis, with husband Swizz Beatz • I Do not Know Why I Don’t Get Shows In Nigeria, says Seun Kuti • Jimmy Jatt, Praiz, Olu Maintain and other artists step out for Buhari • Davido signs Lucrative Deal with Close Up • Genevieve Nnaji has added a new title to her name courtesy of her hometown in Imo State • Nicki Minaj opens up about Her Abortion as a Teenager, Says It Was the Hardest Thing I’d ever gone Through • The very first endorsement of 2015 has been nabbed by Reminisce as he signs a deal with Orijin • seven years after his Last Album, Akon Set to Release 5 Albums Simultaneously in 2015 • Dbanj Hits The 1million Mark On Twitter

Genevieve

• Khloe Kardashian And French Montana Split For The 2nd Time • Ray J is like a bad habit Kim Kardashian just can not kick, as report say he as just made an offer to buy a house on her street • I Only Want To Work With Chris Brown, Akon And Justin Bieber, says Skiibii • I Am Unleashing New Stuffs, says Patrick Elis, • NBC Restricts SHOKI by Lil Kesh, Davido & Olamide to be aired between 10PM and 5AM • Kcee has released his first official offering for 2015, a new single title TURN BY TURN • Asamoah Gyan, has announced a suspension of his music career till he retires from active football

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Agric

Labour

Agric

Driving agriculture with technology

Elections: LASAA, OGSAA others reel under poster burden

Why we celebrated Oteh’s removal – SEC workers

Business What's news

Untapped revenue in maritime put at N7trn, says expert The untapped revenue in the maritime sector has been estimated at N7 trillon by a law firm, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL).

p.30

Modernised farming holds the key –Asiodu All stakeholders including the government need to embrace modernized farming to promote sustainable development, former Minister for National Planning and Budget, Chief Philip Asiodu, has said.

p.30

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Godson Ikoro

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

GROWING

The NCC has issued 184 ISP licences to date Kunle Azeez

wenty-four Internet Service Provders (ISPs) are to renew their operating licences this year, New Telegraph has learnt. ISPs are, by the provision of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA 2003), licensed for a period of five years before a renewal of their operating licences. The Internet companies were issued their licences at diferent times in 2010 and they are bound to renew them this year. The ISPs include Omni Networks; Panache Technologies; Smabavoice Telecoms: Ellkinz Integrated Services; Multiple Access Support; Moorside Nigeria Limited; Futurecom and UZ Engineers Consult. Others are Tel Networks; Gold Majesty International; BroadAccess Limited; Artifice Colony Nigeria Limited; and Desmond Global Energy, Grand Telecomms Solution; Web2com Online; Mindhub Technologies Limited and Phonetime Telecom Limited. Also included are Lexican Investment Limited; Crosat Telecommunications Nigeria Limited; Air Touch Communication; Single Eagle Technologies; Network Information Technology Nigeria Limited; Hajara Ihsan Nigeria Limited and Layer3 Limited. Besides, 22 other ISPs are to renew their licences in 2016; 18 in 2017 and by 2018 and 2019, 21 and 20 others are to renew theirs respectively. The NCC has issued some 184 ISP licences to date, official data have shown. The licensees, operating in different parts of the country, have helped in taking Internet provisioning to individuals, businesses and governments.

24 ISPs to renew operating licences

Their activities have also helped in deepening Internet penetration from less than 20 million to over 78 million people online in the past five years. New Telegraph had hinted that apart from the ISPs that are to renew in 2016, three

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operators would also renew their 15-yearold licences. The affected GSM operators include MTN, Airtel and Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTEL), the mobile

arm of the Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL). Of the three companies, only MTEL has been dormant in its operations, but privatisation activities are on-going CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

L-R: National Head of Activitaion, Globacom, Mr. Francis Imodu; Winner of one million naira, Mr. Rafiu Ajao and Glo Ambassador, Mr. Oluwatobi Wande Ojosipe (Wandy Coal), during the presentation of prizes to Winners of Glo Overload N120m Promo in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Dele Alao

he Federal Government has so far trained 41,230 farmers along each of the targeted value chains to complement the success of the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES). GES is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The training was part of the achievements the ministry said it recorded in 2014. According to the ministry, with the paradigm shift to “ag-

GES: FG trains 41,230 farmers in 2014 riculture as business” rather than a way of life, capacity building for smallholder producers become more critical especially to complement the success of GES to ensure the proper use of the distributed production-enhancing inputs (improved seeds, seedlings, fingerlings, feeds and fertilizers, among others.)

A breakdown of the figure showed that 180 farmers were trained under the livestock value chain on the management of small ruminant at the National Livestock Training Centre, Kachia, Kaduna State, 3,500 cotton farmers were trained in different cotton producing CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE December 2014.........................8% November 2014........................7.9% October 2014............................8.1%

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

EXCHANGE RATE (Parallel As at Jan. 08)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N182 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N390 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N205.50

l Foreign Reserves – $36.5bn as at 8/01/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Jan. 08)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N168 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N253.09 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N197.70

Business | News

OBSTACLES

Maritime faces plethora of uncoordinated activities Bayo Akomolafe

he untapped revenue in the maritime sector has been estimated at N7 trillon by a law firm, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL). For mer National President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said this in Lagos while speaking on “revenue generation from maritime sector as alternative to oil.” He stressed the need to overhaul the outdated government’s policy, institutional, regulatory and legal framework. The expert noted that the last major review of

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Untapped revenue in maritime put at N7trn, says expert Nigerian Shipping Policy was 28 years ago when the NSP Act no 10 of 1987 was enacted. Agbakoba advised that government should create enabling environment in the industry to encourage investors. He added that the Nigerian ports, which are supposed to be the hub of shipping for West and Central Africa, had become uncompetitive. According to him, the country’s ports had been abandoned for those in Benin Republic and Togo. He lamented: “Until recently, there is no clearly recognised economic regulator for the shipping sector. The Federal High Court has held that the Nigeria Shippers

Council is an economic regulator. It is only when the Nigerian Shippers Council is empowered to regulate that stakeholders in the sector can turn around their businesses and generate huge revenue for the nation as their counterparts in other jurisdictions such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and USA, among others. “This is due to lack of regulation in the sector, which has led to a plethora of uncoordinated activities and exorbitant port charges, which make Nigeria very unattractive for business.” Noting that govern-

ment hardly implements its own policy thereby creating leakages in the system, he said: “Invariably, Nigeria, due to paucity of its shipping regulations, is violating international trade facilitation laws.” For instance, he said, Nigeria, as a coastal state, is to provide port importation support and access to landlocked countries such as Niger and Burkina Faso. “Cameroun and Ghana are now providing those services despite long distances between the countries,” he noted. The former NBA national president also

hinted that Nigeria had lost out on tonnage that would have accrued from its international carrier status. He, however, noted that no vessel carries that flag today in the country. Agbakoba said that new laws are urgently required for that industry. “There are a raft of Bills before the National Assembly such as the PIB, the Ports and Harbour Bill, the Bill establishing the Economic Regulator (shipping sector), and the Maritime Zones Bill waiting to be passed. It is even incumbent to review Nigeria’s Ocean

Policy to tap abundant national resources. These and other vital issues will form part of the Policy Dialogue,” he added. On the way forward, Agbakoba said: “At advocacy level, our firm, through its leadership position in shipping laws and maritime policy advocacy, will be kick starting the discussion with a Policy Dialogue on Revenue Generation from Nigeria’s Shipping Sector in conjunction with relevant stakeholders. “The Policy Dialogue will bring together all stakeholders to highlight the constraints in the shipping sector, which are at present preventing Nigeria from becoming the maritime hub of Africa and International Maritime Center.”

24 ISPs to renew operating licences CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

for its turnaround by the National Council for Privatisation (NCP). The renewal will allow the ISPs and the GSM companies to be able to continuously provide services to their subscribers. Though, this newspaper was unable to establish how much the renewal will generate for the regulator, it was learnt that the exercise will offer another stream of revenue to government. It would be recalled

that each of the GSM operators paid a licensing fee of $285 million (about N51.3 billion currently) to pick their licences, following the historic 2001 Digtal Mobile Licence (DML) auction, conducted by the country’s telecoms regulator. Specifically, the three operators picked their licences on February 9, 2001 and they are billed to expire for renewals by February 18, 2016. Other GSM operators such as Globacom and Etisalat will renew their licences in August 2017 and March 2022, respectively.

GES: FG trains 41, 230 farmers in 2014 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

areas, 7,000 rice farmers trained across the country (including 60 women rice farmers in Bayelsa State, South-South Zone in collaboration with Shell Petroleum Development Corporation), 25,000 cocoa farmers have received training in cocoa production, processing and packaging under the Farmer Field and Business Schools, 5,000 maize farmers were also trained in both the North-West, North Central and parts of North-East and 550 Sorghum frontline farmers trained for the value chain as master trainers. Another achievement in 2014, according to the ministry, was the support to the states Agriculture Development Projects (ADPs). The ministry said that it provided 800 motorcycles for distribution to frontline extension agents as mobility sup-

port and 5,000 knapsack sprayers for youth farmers in the maize value chain. Checks showed that before the initiation of the Agricultural Transfor mation Agenda (ATA) of the present administration, the ADPs that are responsible for grassroots agricultural extension and advisory services for the majority of Nigerian smallholder farmers, were virtually in a coma, a situation that started as a gradual decline with the termination of the World Bank support to them in 1995/96. Fur ther checks showed that the private sector Agricultural Extension Advisory Service (AEAS) were not only limited in numbers, area of coverage and number of clients reached, but were also grossly unorganised and uncoordinated in their activities.

L-R: Senior Brand Manager, Family Care, Mr Aro Olalekan; Creative Director, Camera Studio, Yetunde Ayeni-Babaeko; Managing Director/Chief Information Officer, Refined Network International, Oluwatosin Falola and Brand Manager, Cussons Baby, Oluwaseun Ayeni, at the Cussons Baby Moments Competition season 2 pre-judging season in Lagos.

CRUDE

Over 70% of Nigeria’s population still practice primitive farming Dayo Ayeyemi

ll stakeholders, including government, need to embrace modernised farming to promote sustainable development, former Minister for National Planning and Budget, Chief Philip Asiodu, has said. Asiodu, who is the President, Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NFC), said this at the Chief S.L. Edu 13th Memorial Lecture in Lagos. He noted that over 70 per cent of the population are engaged in primitive agriculture methods. He said: “ I referred earlier to certain statistical data that gives us no room for complacency: with over 180 million people inhabiting 923,000

Modernised farming holds the key –Asiodu square kilometres, Nigeria has over 20 per cent of Africa’s population and only three per cent of Africa’s land surface. The population is young and still growing at about 2.8 per cent per annum. “If the growth rate is not reduced significantly, there are projections of our population reaching 450 million by the middle of this century. Our agriculture is still in a very primitive state and largely subsistence farming with over 70 per cent of the population engaged in farming.” Themed: “Sustainable Agriculture and Environment in Nigeria,” the NCF president challenged the authorities on the need for paradigm shift, saying that much intervention was needed to modernise the nation’s agriculture, de-

velop agro allied industries, industrilise and diversify the economy in order to move millions of people from agriculture to other activities. Decrying the damage done to the environment, he noted that the primitive agricultural practices in the country has degraded the environment, calling for action that will promote sustainability and protection of the environment. Director General of NCF, Mr. Adeniyi Karunwi, pointed out that as Nigeria pursues a sustainable future for food security, livelihood and natural resources needs, the idea of managing the environment well to sustain higher agricultural productivity, improved soil fertility as well as the biodiversity value enhancement has become imperative.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Labour

Health workers task govt on Health Act p.32

Women bankers advise students on career choice p.32

Why we celebrated Oteh’s removal – SEC workers FRESH AIR Market regulator to operate under a friendly atmosphere Kenneth Tyohemba and Isah Abdulwahab Abuja

ince the exit of the immediate past Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arumah Oteh, workers at the commission have been celebrating with the belief that her exit would turn things around at the stock market and the Nigerian Stock Exchange as a whole. The workers, under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employee, SEC chapter, had moved against the tenure renewal of Oteh when they perceived that President Goodluck Jonathan might endorse her further stay to garner political favour from the womenfolk. They had fumed over the development, saying, “We will not allow her collapse the market. Look at the way investors’ confidence has waned. She is practically not in a good relationship with capital market stakeholders.” At a gathering to welcome the acting DG, Mr. Mounir H. Gwarzo, on Wednesday, the workers resolved to bury their hatchets so as to make things work perfectly well for the new leadership, the economy and the capital market. It would be recalled that prior to her exit, a member of the union had confirmed the brewing tension as they (workers) did all within their powers to frustrate the tenure elongation. Union’s perspective The union members believe that although she inherited a market that was not in perfect situation in January 2009, her style of leadership, however, worsened it instead of improving on it. They also advised President Goodluck Jonathan to be wary of being misled by Oteh’s hired agents into approving what he said could be a final nail for the coffin of capital market. The source alleged that the ex-SEC boss had wasted the organisation’s scarce resources to purchase coveted Chairperson of the African/Middle East Regional Committee, AMERC, of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, IOSCO to improve her rating, a slot that had been resident with SEC right from the tenure of former DG, Suleiman Ndanusa, to Elfaki and transferred to former acting DG, Mrs. Ekine. He said Oteh had lately been trying to secure the attention of President Jonathan by attending most public occasions she had a fore-

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquaters, Abuja.

Gwarzo

Oteh

knowledge including the c church service that Mr. President attended. Oteh’s defense But Media Adviser to SEC DG, Mr. Obi Adindu, had dismissed their threat as a mere ranting of no effect. “As usual, I will tag this as irresponsible threat. They are in no position to determine who the DG of SEC is. That is the prerogative decision of Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief. The fantastic work DG has done in the last five years is obvious for everyone to see. The so called union was executed in the middle of the night purposely to obstruct the transformation effort DG has embarked on and I can tell they will fail,” he said. Adindu, however, pointed out that the outgone DG did her best as the head of management at the commission, saying that on as-

sumption at SEC, she made training of staff a compulsory exercise. He threatened that should the workers press ahead with strike, the management would be left with the option of invoking no work, no pay rule. Appointed in December 2009, Oteh is expected to round up her first tenure first week, January 2015.

The workers resolved to bury their hatchets so as to make things work perfectly well for the new leadership

New DG’s stand At the get together party held during the week at SEC headquarters in Abuja, the entire staff and SEC management led by Gwarzo feasted in an atmosphere of harmony. Speaking at the occasion, Gwarzo assured staff of return of fresh air to the commission. He promised SEC would be returned to its traditional core values experienced a decade ago. Gwarzo said the commission

would undergo corporate rebranding to alter the battered image suffered due to abuse of rights of the officials. He stated that the fundamental human rights of staff of the commission had been violated for the past 15 years resulting to in-house strife. He promised that the commission under his watch will return the lost traditional core values the commission was noted for 15 years back, pointing out that the issue of human rights will be paramount He specifically cautioned the unions not to abuse the rights accorded them and expressed optimism that the era of in-fighting had passed. In his words, “The era of fighting has passed, because there will be nothing to fight for. The issues on ground have been amicably resolved, so what do we fight for again? “I thank the union and I want to assure you that you should hold me accountable for your commitment to the commission, I am one of you, I know everybody by face, you know that I know the issues on ground, and you know that 10, 15 years ago things were not the way they supposed to be based on how we used to behave. So I want you all to go back to the good old days were there was respect for each other. We as executive management will continue to ensure that no stone is left unturned.” The union members also pledged commitment to the new leadership with a resolve to put behind the past and join hands to bring back glorious days to the commission. Most of the workers welcomed the new change in management and pledged their loyalty to work in harmony to bring improvement to capital market and the economy.

Business | Labour

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Workers task govt on Health Act SOLUTION Stakeholders seek end to industrial disputes Stories by Sunday Ojeme

s part of measures to curb incessant workers’ strike in the health sector, the Federal Government has been advised to arrange a forum where stakeholders in the sector would learn more about the National Health Act. Making this declaration

recently, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) said the forum would help in resolving some of the fundamental challenges affecting the sector. The President of the union, Felix Faniran, while making the call, also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for signing the National Health Bill, which culminated in the Act. He said, “The National Health Act which was recently signed by Mr. President is highly welcome, as it makes very robust and good provision for strengthening of primary health care services in

the country, provides for the inclusion of other healthcare professionals in the composition of several committees, ensures easy access to medical care by greater number of Nigerians, especially those needing emergency medical services. “The Act also provides opportunities for Nigerians in challenging their leaders through judicial process concerning their rights to health care services and many more opportunities. “We will, however, like to strongly advise that the Honourable Minister of Health summon urgently a stakehold-

ers’ forum on health to discuss the various provisions on the National Health Act and other issues affecting the health sector with a view of addressing contentious issues that currently beset the sector,” The union, however, said the Act did not provide for composition of Federal Ministry of Health despite its strong position on the matter. Folarin said, “We therefore recommend that Federal Ministry of Health should be composed of various directorates that will reflect the various healthcare professional groups in the health sector,” the workers stressed.”

Acting Minister of Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan

Katsina health workers defy gov

L-R: General Manager, Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria, Martin Mabutho; General Manager, GOtv, Elizabeth Amkpa and General Manager, SuperSport West Africa, Felix Awogu, at the unveiling of single view HD decoder after a press briefing on AFCON 2015 in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Women bankers advise students on career choice S tudents of secondary schools in Lagos have been enjoined to choose careers that will guarantee their success in future. Giving the advice during its annual career-counseling programme, the Association of Professional Women Bankers said that the ability of students to attain success in life starts with their ability to select a suitable career. According to the Chairperson, APWB, Mrs. Toyin Ojo, the vision of the association is to promote good conduct among members, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, financial institutions and the corporate society. Ojo said part of the duties of the association was to help build future leaders for tomorrow., saying, “We believe that by the time we leave here, your life will not be the same again. “ Also speaking, the Acting Registrar, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mr. Seye Awojobi, who rep-

resented the chairman, said that the banking sector was associated with honest people who were entrusted with the money of the citizens. He urged the students to be active in their various schools by joining educative clubs to prepare them for a successful life after school. While encouraging them to imbibe the attributes of good leaders, Awojobi said, “CIBN as of today is 52 years and has produced many great leaders. A leader must be trustworthy, honest, ethical and transparent.”

The Head, Marketing Communications, ACCION Microfinance Bank, Mrs. Ngozi Anene, told the students that if they wanted to achieve their career aspirations, they needed to have a vision, adding that mentors, role models and friends who had good ambitions and attributes should be emulated. To choose a suitable career, she encouraged the students to identify their weaknesses and strengths, limitation and emotional states.

Chams names new director, CFO

hams Plc has announced the appointment of Dr. Josephin Awosika to its Board of Directors and Mrs. Christianah Olaniyan as its new Chief Financial Officer. According to a statement on Tuesday, Awosika, who also serves on the board of Access Bank Plc and Capital Insurance Nigeria

Limited as non-executive director, is a technocrat with extensive and meritorious public and private sector experience. The firm expressed hope that she would bring her wealth of experience at executive and boardroom levels in technology, power and banking sectors to bear on the business of Chams Plc.

espite the stakeholders meeting convened by Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State on Monday to end health workers’ strike in the state, members of the Medical and Health Workers failed to resume work the following day. The governor had called on the health workers to consider government’s magnanimity to them over the years, adding that those wishing to resume should indicate at the Health Ministry. However, the health union’s representatives said participation in the strike was in compliance with a national directive by the mother union. Some of the health per-

sonnel who spoke on the matter said they were yet to see any of the union’s members resume work, even as they expressed hope that the strike issue would be resolved soon.

Shema

Mental health workers strike in California

aiser Permanente mental health professionals throughout California went on a strike Monday to protest what they say is a lack of staffing that affects care. The health care provider’s 2,600 psychologists, therapists and social workers began the weeklong walkout to demand that Kaiser Permanente offer timely, quality mental health care at its psychiatry departments and clinics, said Jim Clifford, a union member and San Diego psychiatric therapist. Clifford said some patients have to wait up to two months for follow-up appointments, which prolongs the recovery process. “Kaiser purports to be the leader in health care, but it’s continuing the history of discrimination against the mentally ill, and that’s unacceptable to us,” said Clifford, who has been with Kaiser for 13 years. The mental health workers are represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which has been unable to reach a contract agreement with Kaiser since the union formed five years ago. Wearing red T-shirts and holding signs that read

“Fair Wages Now” and “Social Workers for Quality Care,” mental health workers picketed outside dozens of Kaiser medical centers throughout California and vowed to continue their strike through next Monday. John Nelson, Kaiser’s vice president of government relations, denied there is a shortage of mental health staff. He said the health plan has increased staffing statewide by 25 per cent in the past three years, while membership grew by 8 percent during the same period. He said the false claims are part of the union’s bargaining tactic. “They think that attacking Kaiser Permanente’s reputation will get them a better contract,” Nelson said. “It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing, but it’s their strategy.” He said that appointments are being rescheduled and that during the strike, psychiatrists on staff will treat patients in crisis or with an emergency. Meanwhile, more than 18,000 Kaiser nurses and nurse practitioners in Northern and Central California are planning to strike Jan. 21-22.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Global pests’ damages hit $250bn p.34 INNOVATION Invention can help meet challenge of feeding about 9.2 billion people

Agric

IITA signs MoU with Osun, Agronet on seedling p.35

Driving agriculture with technology

Stories by Dele Alao

ince its introduction some years ago, mobile communications or technology has been used all over the world in various fields of human endeavour. One of such fields, for instance, in which mobile technology - the cell phone or mobile phone especially, has been deployed, is agriculture. Lending credence to the use of mobile phones in agricultural practice, two UK-based agriculture experts - Ben Nkemachor and Jude Nnadozie - in one of their write-ups on the matter, stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, mobile phone technology in farming practices has been in used in many developing parts of the world such as in Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and Southern and Eastern Africa, and it has yielded and is yielding enormous benefits for the countries there.” Also, a report co-authored by Accenture, Vodafone and Oxfam showed that mobile communications can help to meet the challenge of feeding an estimated 9.2 billion people by 2050. The 12 specific opportunities explored in the report, according to them, could increase agricultural income by around $138 billion across 26 of Vodafone’s markets in 2020. “Connected agriculture could also reduce carbon

A telecom mast

emissions and reduce water consumed in irrigation,” the report said. The report also aims to stimulate the necessary engagement between mobile operators, governments, nonprofits and businesses to realise these opportunities and explore others. Furthermore, according to a report posted on the website of foodtank, there are five ways in which cell phones are changing agriculture in Africa. The report states that sub-Saharan Africa now has over 650 million mobile phone subscribers and that mobile technology is especially transformative for the agriculture sector. Some of the ways in which cell phones are changing Afri-

Cattle breeders laud Kebbi over animal husbandry ministry he Kebbi State branch of sociation to unite and support T Miyetti Allah Cattle Breed- government’s policies aimed ers Association of Nigeria at improving their economic (MACBAN) has commended the Kebbi State government for establishing the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. This commendation was contained in a statement by the chairman of the association, Muhammad Gwandu, in Birnin Kebbi. According to Gwandu, the new ministry would go a long way to boost livestock and fisheries production in the state. He added that the new ministry would also boost families’ income, generate employment and improve people’s nutrition intake. Gwandu noted that livestock was the best insurance against drought, famine and other natural calamities and appealed to members of the as-

status. “We would strive to end clashes between farmers and cattle breeders in the state,” he further said in the statement. Meanwhile, the West African Cotton (WACOT) limited, one of Nigeria’s agricultural input supplying companies, has developed a scheme to engage farmers in Kebbi State in the value chain development of some selected crops. This is coming on the heels of the N570 million that has been paid to farmers in Argungu, Zuru and Jega local government areas of the state, for the procurement of seeds and fertilizers. WACOT said this is in addition to the N63 million worth of farm inputs provided for the farmers in the state.

can agriculture, according to the Foodtank report, include access to commodity prices and instant weather information. “Mobile phones allow farmers to gain access to vital information about prices of crops before they travel long distances to markets. Cell phone services employ SMS text messaging to quickly transfer accurate information about wholesale and retail prices of crops, ensuring farmers can negotiate deals with traders and improve their timing of getting crops to the market. SokoniSMS64 is one popular service used in Kenya to provide farmers with accurate market prices from around the country,” the report stated. It added: “Mobile technology provides farmers with crucial weather data so they can properly manage their crops. Programmes such as Tigo Kilimo in Tanzania give smallscale farmers instant weather information combined with appropriate agricultural tips.” Here in Nigeria, mobile technology has also been deployed

to assist farmers. One of such technology is the Token Administration Platform (TAP). TAP, which uses near field communications (NFC) and people-powered mesh networking to transfer data to field staff devices, is fast gaining ascendancy. TAP technology was developed by a leading independent consultancy Consult Hyperion, in partnership with international development specialists GRM International, the agricultural non-profit International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development, to transform the way agricultural subsidies in Nigeria are managed. According to the Strategy Manager, Novus Agro, a private company that uses technology to provide market access to farmers, Obiajuru Luya, mobile technology has been playing a key role in the current agricultural transfor-

mation taking place in Nigeria which has yielded some increases in aggregate national food production and relatively stable food prices. “Agriculture is no longer about hoes and cutlasses, but about mechanised farming, fueled with relevant data, statistics and technology,” she said. She added: “The relevance of mobile technology in agriculture cannot be over-emphasised. Prices of staples have been stable in recent times despite the instability in other sectors such as drop in oil prices, devaluation of the naira, insurgency and so on. This is largely due to increase in domestic production of commodities.” According to Luya, mobile technology was what aided the transparency and dynamics of fertilizer distribution in the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) initiative, of the ministry. “More people now see the relevance of price data and the need to get insights from it to function effectively at different levels and in different value chains from production to processing of end-user products, planning and budgetary committees are not left out,” she said. On the contribution of her company to the deployment of mobile technology in agriculture, Luya said: “Dissemination of market prices of commodities has been the backbone of Novus Agro business over the years in terms of transfer of real time information to farmers. Novus Agro is a business operated by youthful Nigerians, with focus on bridging the information gap in agriculture, giving farmers access to markets and inputs, creating employment by empowering Nagropreneurs and generally bringing technological solutions to agriculture in Nigeria.”

Niger, IFAD collaborate to develop cassava, rice value chain

he Niger State government has said it was collaborating with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to develop cassava and rice value chains in the state. Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Prof. Mohammed Yahaya, who stated this noted that the measure would improve the living standard of rural populace in the state.

Represented by Alhaji Muhammadu Ibrahim, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, the commissioner said: “The IFAD will provide us with N328 million annually for six years, while the state government will provide N79.4 million counterpart fund per annum for six years.” Yahaya said that the Federal Government, through the state ministry, had decided to develop

major crops value chain in the country. This, he said, was to increase food production and provide market for them. The commissioner said that three local government areas of Katcha, Bida and Wushishi would be used for the pilot scheme to develop the value chain. He said that the management team for the programme in the state had been inaugurated.

Business | Agric

LOSSES Diseases and pests have caused significant harms in the citrus sector Stories by Dele Alao

nnual economic damages of pests on crops, pastures and forest areas accounted for approximately $250 billion all over the world. This was according to surveys conducted in the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, India and Brazil, with data from the Ministry of Natural Environment. In 2014, the Crop Protection Secretariat through the Department of Plant Health compiled data on the impacts of some pest over Brazilian crops. The goal was to build an investment plan for the execution of phytosanitary policies. Director of the Department, Luís Rangel, said: “It is difficult to estimate the losses caused by pests on agricultural crops and livestocks and mainly the ones arising from quarantine species. Only in the case of the phytosanitary emergency of Helicoverpa ar-

IITA signs MoU with Osun, Agronet

he International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Osun State government and Agronet Limited for the establishment of a profitable seed and seedling multiplication business in the state. The MoU, which is already in force, is expected to improve job creation and enhance livelihoods by strengthening entrepreneurship and agribusiness capacity. Speaking during the signing ceremony, IITA Deputy Director General for Partnerships and Capacity Development, Dr. Kenton Dashiell, explained that limited access to certified seeds, including planting materials for yam, plantain and cassava was one of the major problems smallholders were facing. He said: “The MoU is an important step forward in guaranteeing food security and employment for the population of Osun State via public-private partnerships.”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Global pests’ damages hit $250bn migera (corn earworm), according to the associations, there were losses of over R$ 10 billion in the last years in Brazil. “Over the last year, new diseases and pests have caused significant losses in the citrus sector like Huanglongbing (HLB) or Greening; on different palms, like the Red Palm Mite, and the caterpillar corn earworm on corn, soybean and cotton crops,” he added.

“The indiscriminate use of insecticides can cause phenomena that lead to a dose increase of up to 70 per cent, but without efficiency. The estimate is that the agrochemicals costs increasing 30 per cent because of the corn earworm, reaching R$ 374 per hectare. It is highlighted that the cost for developing chemical molecules is estimated at over $200 million,” the survey said. It would be recalled that

last year, a study by the University of Exeter, UK, showed that many of the world’s most important crop-producing countries will be fully saturated with pests by the middle of the century if current trends continue. The report noted that over one-in-ten pest types could already be found in around half the countries that grow their host crops. If this spread advances at its current rate, scientists fear that

a significant proportion of global crop-producing countries will be overwhelmed by pests within the next 30 years. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes. The research, published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, describes the patterns and trends in their spread, using global databases to investigate the factors that influence the num-

ber of countries reached by pests and the number of pests in each country. The study identified the pests likely to be the most invasive in coming years, including: three species of tropical root knot nematode, whose larvae infect the roots of thousands of different plant species; Blumeria graminis, a fungus that causes powdery mildew on wheat and other cereals; and the Citrus tristeza virus.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Brands&Marketing Elections: LASAA, OGSAA others reel under poster burden

EYE SORE Over 100,000 political posters are illegally deployed in the states daily Stories by Dele Alao

s usual and associated with an electioneering year, major cities across the country are adorned with campaign posters of aspiring political office holders from different political parties. A few years back, many states took after Lagos to set up agencies responsible for outdoor regulations - billboards and posters, among others. The purpose of setting up the agencies, among others, was to ensure a cleaner and regulated outdoor environ-

ment, prevent indiscriminate pasting of posters and removal of unapproved erected billboards. In Lagos, the agency is known as the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), it was the pioneer signage agency in the country, set up during the administration of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as governor. The setting up LASAA was met with stiff resistant from the players in the industry under the aegis of Outdoor Advertisers Association of Nigeria (OAAN) Other states soon followed suit. They include the Ogun State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OGSAA), Oyo

State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), Ondo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ODSAA), Ekiti State Signage and Advertisement Agency (EKSAA), Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KWASSA), among others. Often times, these agencies have been accused of partisan politics. They are often seen as being more favourably disposed to the ruling party or being allowed to be used as agents of intimidation of opponents. For instance, in late 2014, billboards belonging to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ogun State were removed by the

L-R: National Commercial Director, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, Matthieu Seguin; Marketing Manager, Colas, CocaCola Nigeria Limited, Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi and Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Patricia Jemibewon, at the media launch of the Share a Coke campaign of Coca-Cola in Lagos.

How Chivita% leverages on ManU FC

he amazing success of many global brands that are household names today, analysts said, is possible because they mastered the art of creating highly attractive partner and customer value propositions. Brands, through effective communication, they further argued, have endeared themselves to their consumers and increased their market share. To this end, the publicity and goodwill generated around the recent partnership between Chivita 100% and Manchester United football club, shows how effective communication strategies have not only endeared consumers to the fruit juice, but also helped increase sales.

The partnership has created massive exposure and visibility for the Chivita 100% brand through an effective campaign in recent times. “The publicity strategy has been effective in creating affinity and sustaining loyalty for the brand,” said Akeem Olusola, a marketing communications experts. He added: “Already, publicity around the partnership is generating tangible results through increased traffic to the very popular Chivita 100% Page on Facebook. Communication of the partnership has ensured that the number of likes on the page crossed the 200,000 threshold and is currently approaching 250,000.” On his part, Chi Limited’s

Head of Marketing, Probal Bhattacharya, said the company developed a communication strategy for publicising the partnership which has been effective. “For us at Chi Limited, our style of placing premium on our consumers cannot be compromised and it drives the way we engage with them through advertising strategies that are informative, exciting and rewarding. We embarked on the journey to adopt a 360 degree marketing philosophy and engagement platforms that are veritable and accessible to our consumers. We are happy that through the communication mix deployed for the campaign, the consumer response has been very encouraging.”

OGSAA under Akin Bandele on the allegation that the party did not get the necessary approval before they were erected. Similar tales of “unwarranted removal of billboards and posters” have also been recorded in states where the signage agencies are established. Recently, LASAA engaged in an argument with the police over the removal of posters allegedly pasted indiscriminately within Lagos State. Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, had in a media briefing, threatened to arrest anybody that attempts to remove any billboard or poster of any candidate of the various political parties. This, the police commissioner noted, was to ensure a level playing field and ensure that all candidates in the forthcoming election have equal opportunity in canvassing for votes through posters. Reacting to the intervention by the police in its statutory function, LASAA stated clearly that the “removal of posters that deface our environment is a statutory obligation of LASAA. The agency is therefore baffled that the Nigeria Police (which is responsible for enforcing the laws of this nation), is (by Aderanti’s statement) encouraging and expressly supporting the flagrant disregard and contravention of environmental guidelines issued to all

political parties.” In a statement by the Chief Executive Officer, LASSA, George Noah, said it had equally received complaints from members of the public on the increase in political posters and had undertaken this task without any favour. “Over 100,000 political posters are illegally deployed in the state on a daily basis in the last three months in contravention of laid down guidelines. We wish to assure all political parties that as long as all election materials are not deployed within our stipulated guidelines, such materials will continue to be removed. As the arm of the state government entrusted with the responsibility to control and regulate use of outdoor advertising displays in Lagos State, our Agency (by our statutory function) must ensure that all outdoor advertising materials used for election purposes must be deployed within the provisions of our guidelines and in accordance with extant laws,” Noah said. As it were, states are now thoroughly defaced by political posters that created a burden for the signage agencies, which now seems helpless. The LASAA case is more pathetic in the face of police threat. The next few weeks will, however, determine who is winning the ‘war’ between LASAA and the police.

Coca-Cola launches ‘Share a Coke’

oca-Cola Nigeria has launched a campaign, “Share a Coke,” in the country. The soft drink brand is replacing its iconic logo with popular Nigerian names on all its packaging – the returnable glass bottle, cans and PET bottles. Speaking on the campaign, Marketing Director, Coca Cola Nigeria Limited, Patricia Jemibewon, said that the innovation was borne out of the need to excite Nigerians just as it is done in other markets She said: “Share a Coke transforms the global CocaCola brand into a special, personal experience for our consumers. By swapping our iconic Coca-Cola logo with personal names, we give all our consumers a unique opportunity to connect and share their personalised Coke with the people who matter the most to them - friends, family and loved ones, either in person, or virtually.” Giving more details about Share a Coke, Jemibewon said

that the campaign recognises Nigeria’s culture and diversity as 600 popular names have been selected from the rich array of names across the various regions of Nigeria. “Share a Coke does not only reinforce our on-going commitment to refresh the world but also to inspire shared moments of optimism and happiness,” Jemibewon said. Consumers can now buy personalised Coke in glass, can and PET from retail outlets across the country. Consumers who are unable to find their names in-store will have the chance to create their own personalised Coke during the nationwide activation, which commences in February 2015. The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was first introduced in Australia in 2011. Since then, the company has launched the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign in over 50 countries around the world, including New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Great Britain, Turkey, Germany, Spain and Chile.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Auto Beat

X-Trail wins car of the year award T Paul Ogbuokiri

he all-new Nissan X-Trail has won the Car of the Year award by the China Mainstream Media Automobile Alliance. The award is based on vigorous testing by a team of automotive journalists in China. “We are very excited and honoured to receive the COTY award for the all-new X-Trail,” said Susumu Uchikoshi, managing director of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company. “Since debuting in China in March 2014, X-Trail has enjoyed positive media reviews, strong consumer demand and passionate support from our dealer network. I am confident that this already popular SUV will continue to attract more drivers and create more fans here.” China Mainstream Media Automobile Alliance consists of 23 of the most influential media in China. Members evaluate all new cars sold in categories such as acceleration, comfort, features, fuel consumption, interior and exterior design, and value for the price. This is the third consecutive year that Nissan has accepted the COTY award. X-Trail is produced in Dongfeng Nissan’s Zhengzhou and Dalian plants, and has turned in consecutive monthly sales over 10,000 units for a total of more than 110,000 units since launching in China.

L-R: The Coscharis Roll Royce Sales Manager, Tolulope Gbadamosi; Prince Demola Eletu-Odibo and the Coscharis Group Managing Director, Josiah Samuel during the hand-over of four Rolls Royce cars purchased by the Eletu Family recently in Lagos

Nissan partners NASA to develop autonomous drive vehicles

issan Motor Co., through its North American-based organisation, and NASA announced the formation of a five-year research and development partnership to advance autonomous vehicle systems and prepare for commercial application of the technology. Researchers from Nissan’s U.S. Silicon Valley Research Center and NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., will focus on autonomous drive systems, human-machine interface solutions, network-enabled applications, and software analysis and verification, all involving sophisticated hardware and software used in road and space applications. Researchers from the two organisations will test a fleet of zero-emission autonomous vehicles at Ames to demonstrate proof-of-concept remote operation of autonomous vehicles for the transport of materials, goods, payloads and people. For NASA, these tests parallel the way it operates planetary rovers from a mission control center. The first vehicle of that fleet should be testing at the facility by the end of 2015. “The work of NASA and Nissan – with one directed to space and the other directed to earth, is connected by similar challenges,” said Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. “The partnership will accelerate Nissan’s development of safe, secure and reliable autonomous drive technology that we will progressively introduce to consumers beginning

in 2016 up to 2020.” Nissan has set 2020 as the timeframe for the introduction of autonomous drive vehicles that have the ability to navigate in nearly all situations, including the most complex situation, city driving. According to the terms of the partnership, NASA will benefit from Nissan’s shared expertise in innovative component technologies for autonomous vehicles, shared research to inform development of vehicular transport applications, and access to appropriate prototype systems and provision of test beds for robotic software. “All of our potential topics of research collaboration with Nissan are areas in which Ames has strongly contributed to major NASA programs,” said director of Ames Research Center, S. Pete Worden. “Ames developed Mars rover planning software, robots onboard the International Space Station and Next Generation air traffic management systems to name a few. We look forward to applying knowledge developed during this partnership toward future space and aeronautics endeavors.” “This partnership brings together the best and brightest of NASA and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley,” said Ghosn.

Hyundai i10 crowned ‘Best City Car’ for second consecutive year

ew Generation Hyundai i10 has retained its position at the top of its class after being named ‘Best City Car’ for the second consecutive year. Praised for its high quality interior materials, refinement, ease of driving and big-car features, i10 beat stiff competition from the likes of VW Up, Smart Fortwo and Skoda Citigo. Jim Holder, Editor at What Car? said: “Last year the Hyundai i10 stunned us by stealing the crown from the VW Up. It’s just as nimble to drive and comfortable in town as the VW, but offers even greater practicality, class-leading refinement and loads of kit. Our choice is wonderfully smooth,

Hyundai i10

and quick enough to keep up with larger traffic. In premium trim it feels suitably expensive inside which makes it stunning value. The Hyundai is a genuine threat to a lot of superminis.” Tony Whitehorn, President & CEO, Hyundai Motor UK said: “2014 was a major year for the New Generation i10, which proved to be an instant hit with existing Hyundai customers and those new to the brand. As we approach 12 full months on sale, i10 is proving more popular than ever - a trend that we expect to continue in 2015. We are delighted that What Car? has recognised i10 as the best City Car for the second consecutive year in what is an extremely competitive segment. This award is a testament to the superb design and engineering which has gone into creating this cleverly packaged car. ” The New Generation i10 features road noise levels which are among the best in its class while the suspension delivers a dynamic driving experience. Sophisticated, stylish and thoughtful design touches ensures broad appeal in the City Car segment, while quality materials and high end features, including air conditioning and Bluetooth®, deliver big car comfort for the driver and passengers alike.

Feminique NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Adesimbo Ukiri: Making healthcare affordable to the people Adesimbo Ukiri is the Chief Executive Officer of AVON Healthcare, a leading Health Management Organization (HMO) in Nigeria. An accomplished Lawyer, she left the legal profession for Healthcare sector where she is conquering grounds, making quality healthcare available to the masses. She had a chat with EBERE AMEH, where she talked about her job and highlighted the benefits of the National Health bill that was just signed by the president. Excerpts

desimbo Ukiri is one of those humble Nigerians who do not believe in blowing their own trumpet. With a track record of successfully leading Marketing, Sales and Distribution and Business Development functions in a number of sectors, including Banking, Telecommunications, and Healthcare, under challenging entrepreneurial environments in Nigeria, Ukiri is adept and poised to take AVON Healthcare even to greater heights. “Avon HMO has been operational for two years now. In this time, we have made great strides to become one of the leading HMOs in Nigeria. We provide healthcare services to individuals, families, groups, companies and the government. We offer a comprehensive line of products and services that cater to the unique needs of all our members, through a network of over 400 hospitals and clinics, spread across the 36 states and major local government areas in the country.” Established in 2008, AVON, under the management of Ukiri as its Chief Executive Officer, now has a presence in over 28 states of the country and still counting. Talking about their secret to success, Ukiri said that they do not compromise on quality. “Our focus on quality assurance is painstaking and we work very closely with Provider Hospitals to ensure that our enrolled members receive the best in healthcare services. For instance, Avon HMO Case Managers have scheduled daily visits to hospitals to engage with enrolled members on admission, overseeing the care they receive and providing further assurances. In addition, our Care Coordinators also work with Provider hospitals to achieve adherence to agreed Disease Management Protocols and Drug Formularies to sustain high levels of

EBERE AMEH ebere.ameh@newtelegraphonline.com

clinical and pharmacy quality to Avon HMO’s enrolled members.” Still on what makes AVON tick, Ukiri disclosed that all their Provider Hospitals have a well-deserved right to adequate and effective remuneration. “In recognition of this, we ensure that capitation and claims payments to Hospitals in our network are prompt. Our Hospitals have commended us for this.” In the area of customer service and complaints resolution, AVON enjoys a robust Complaints Resolution Procedure in place and has streamlined its processes so that the resolution time for most issues fall within a 5 - 15 minutes window. “With our 24-hour Call Centre and the provision of multiple channels through which we can be contacted, we have ensured that we are easy to access and responsive,” Ukiri said. In addition to their health insurance plans, AVON also offers health risk assessment, occupational health management and employee well-being services. Across all these services, it has been able to customize their offerings to suit their clients specific needs. “We develop and nurture strong, long lasting relationships that are based on our core values of Humility, Empathy, Integrity and Resilience. We aim to add value that is impactful and sustainable in alignment with each stakeholder’s unique goals and objectives.” Her over 20 years handson experience in the Finance, Brand Marketing, Legal and Corporate Communications in some blue chip companies in Nigeria plays a crucial and influential role in helping her shape key concepts around businesses, innovations, decision making, leadership, productivity and even, personal effectiveness and have all contributed to the successes of AVON Healthcare. A graduate of Law from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, Ukiri is also a Sloan Fellow of London Business School, with a mid-career master’s degree in general management and leadership. The fellowship targets experienced managers who have demonstrated success either within organizations or independently as entrepreneurs.

Reacting on the recently signed National Health Bill, Ukiri says the Bill represents a genuine commitment to improving the health of all Nigerians. “For too long, Nigerians have become weary from hearing report after report of dilapidated and ill-equipped General Hospitals, poor quality of care and the devastating effects of paying out-of pocket for medical treatment. The Bill will drive reform of our health system and kick-start much-needed improvement in the standards and quality of our healthcare services. “For the health insurance industry, we know that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will manage 50% of the National Primary Healthcare Development Fund (funded by a one per cent deduction from Nigeria’s Consolidated Revenue Fund) which was established to provide basic access to healthcare services. This Bill will help give the NHIS a much-needed boost as it will empower more Nigerians to get health insurance and subscribe to a health plan,” Ukiri explained. Despite her eulogies, Ukiri is of the opinion that the success of the National Health Scheme will be dependent on several factors. “The successful implementation of the bill will be hinged on a number of factors. First, there must be total commitment of key stakeholders to the successful realization and effective implementation of the Bill. Outside of the hospital providers, there are several professional bodies who operate in the healthcare

Inequality to quality healthcare continues to result in a lower life expectancy and unnecessary deaths

space and there has often been a lack of clarity with regards to their responsibilities and accountability. This Bill aims to remove any ambiguity as it will define roles and responsibilities, outline limitations and encourage co-operation. “Second, there is the effective management of the National Primary Healthcare Development Fund and third is the role of the Private Sector and the impact this will have on them.” According to the CEO, these challenges can be overcome by the development of a Committee who will oversee the implementation of the Bill. “There will be several questions t h a t will

arise and this Committee must be empowered to find solutions that are agreeable to all stakeholders but should not take away from the laudable aims of the Bill.” An avid advocate for the emancipation of women, Ukiri agrees that women remain one of the most vulnerable and underserved members of society. She calls for quality and affordable healthcare for the women, adding that the bill, if well implemented, will address that. “Inequality to quality healthcare continues to result in a lower life expectancy and unnecessary deaths.” Too many women are dying in pregnancy and childbirth. Improving access to healthcare remains key to reducing maternal mortality. “This Bill guarantees pregnant women a minimum level of health care service. We know that affordable and accessible healthcare will go a long way in enabling women, as a whole, to fully participate in their communities – be it socially, economically or politically- and most importantly, in the lives of their families a n d loved ones,” Ukiri said.

Adesimbo Ukiri

Feminique

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

New year sexolution: Revive your sex life! T

his is a brand new year 2015, the year of so many things, including elections in Nigeria. Let me use this medium to say happy new year to all our numerous readers. I also want to say a big thank you to all the readers of this weekly column, who have communicated with us either by sms or email. Or even both in some cases, just to be sure we got their messages. Not all have been questions. Some have been requests for one-on-one consultations and special topics. An overwhelming number just wanted to say ‘thank you, keep it up and God bless you’ in so many different ways. Thank you all and God bless you too. I have decided to dub this year as the year of sexual emancipation or liberation. This means that this year we shall go all out to educate you about sex. To show that sex is fun, sex has so many health benefits (check 2014 write ups), and sex is not Taboo. We shall continue where we ended last year. ORAL SEX. This week we shall discuss the rules and regula-

tions that make oral sex fantastic. Consent. Oral sex must always be by mutual consent. Don’t impose yourself on your partner. Don’t force or trick your partner to give you a blow job or to suck you. This is totally wrong and is contrary to the rules of sexual rights as formulated by WHO. We men are especially guilty of this. If your partner does not like oral sex, there must be a reason. Try to find out why. I am sure that with patience, understanding and love, he/ she will overcome the challenge or inhibitions. She might be the shy type. This might be her first experience or she might be afraid of being labelled cheap in future. Safety and Health. Oral sex is both safe and healthy if both partners are clean. But it is a different story entirely if one or both partners are dirty and unclean. Then you can be infected with sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis and the almighty HIV/AIDS. Also such infections as staphylococcus, streptococcus and e coli can be easily transmit-

Ebere Ameh

e had an adventurous day, touring the massive mall, feasting our eyes and shopping. We watched as children played games at the Sega Republic and I wished I had Tosin and Tobi with me. We pushed the tempo and got in for ice skating, with scintillating disco sessions at their Olympic-size Ice Rink. We got into the groove, with two hours of ice skating excitement in a lively disco atmosphere, but not without falling several times because of our inexperience. We ended up with a sumptuous meal. Thank God we had already visited the Gold Souk earlier, it would have been difficult to leave the mall for another place. Very eager to see the place where gold could be bought with little or nothing, I insisted we went there first. Unfortunately, gold remained gold – expensive; but my Danny was equal to the task. ‘This is gold land indeed,’ I exclaimed as we passed through different shops displaying an array of beautiful Jewelleries made of precious stones and metals - diamonds, gold, rubies, pearls, silver just name it. Some are simply extra large with jaw dropping prices and I wondered who could afford them. ‘Did you see the Jesus’ picture in that store? I asked, dragging Danny back to a store we just passed. ‘It may be a resemblance. Have you forgotten where you are? With all the turbans and the adhans renting the air, the storekeeper can’t be that reckless.’ After buying a set of white gold from the shop and establishing a good rapport, I popped the question. ‘It is Jesus’ picture. I am a Christian from India.’ On whether he is not inviting the wrath of the Muslims, he said, ‘They don’t have your time. We go to church every week and nobody disturbs the other. We respect them and their beliefs and they respect us. They are good,’ the shop keeper said.

ted. This transmission is usually both ways. This means that after being infected, you can infect other people too. So be very careful about who you choose as your sex partners. As I always tell people, at the early stages, the thing no dey show for face. If you are brave enough, just take a walk into the infectious diseases section of any general or teaching hospital. You will see people undergoing treatment who are 100 times more handsome or beautiful than you are. And most of them are not commercial sex workers, but simple men and ladies like you and me who made terrible mistakes. Multiple Partners. It is totally unsafe and unhealthy for you to have oral sex with multiple partners. Don’t jump from bed to bed. It tarnishes your image as well. Mutual Enjoyment. Fantastic, orgasmic sex occurs when the two parties are involved in making it happen for each other. This I’m sure you are aware of. The same goes for oral sex. You must give and take. Don’t just lie there like a piece

Fadeyi

of log of wood and expect your partner to be doing all the hard work. Or try to pretend you are not enjoying it, so he/ she can work harder. You both can adopt variations of the famous or infamous 69 position. This is actually the best for oral sex. See you next week. Dr. Taiwo Fadeyi is a Western trained medical practitioner and one of the very few certified Sexologists in Nigeria. He is also a marriage counsellor and would be bringing his immense knowledge and experience to bear in writing this column. Make it a date with him every Friday for that expert advice on sex and relationship. He can be reached on drtaiwofadeyi@gmail. com or 08033148899 (sms only)

Ego: Diary of a single mom See Dubai and die!

We looked at each other and then remembered Mary, a young Filipino sales girl at the mall. She wore her crucifix and scapular conspicuously and said she is a Catholic and has never had any reason to hide her identity. We wondered aloud on the day we will have that kind of religious tolerance in north-east Nigeria. Most of the traders take pride in speaking the languages. Some are so used to Nigerians that they even accept the Naira. One of the salesmen did not cease to amuse us. He thrilled us with the little pidgin, Yoruba and Igbo he picked from his Nigerian customers. Wahala, you wan kill me?, onye oshi, that is last last, jale jale, ole, he rambled on.

Before the Desert Safari drivers came, I laid on the bed as if asleep but sleeping was not in my agenda. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t know when Danny, who had gone for some groceries downstairs came in. “If only he could propose to me.... If only his estranged wife could get another man and leave Danny for me....” I thought as I lay face down on the bed. “I am yet to see a man as caring as Danny. Is he pretending? Why does he love me so much and still shy away from proposing to me? Is there something I am not doing right? God, please help his wife to marry someone else, I love Danny so much,” I prayed. I was fantasizing how wonderful it will be if we are

man and wife when his voice jolted me back to consciousness. “The Desert Safari drivers are here,” he said in his sweet baritone voice. Quickly, we dressed up and soon, we were on our way, together with two other tourists from England, cruising past the king’s palace enroute the Safari. The palace is situated on a massive expanse of land with fine trees and a beautiful gate in a secluded environment outside the city. The safari driver gave us a bit of the history of Dubai, explaining how they were always at logger heads with Abu Dhabi and how they arrived at a compromise after the creation of the United Arab Emirates. The desert ride was rough, adventurous and at the same time interesting. Hundreds of tourists from different countries in different Sport Utility Vehicles, touring the desert together and screaming with excitement as we drove and descend over mountainous heaps of desert sand, tilting and manoeuvring without somersaulting. It was as frightening as it was exciting and we could not help shouting in excitement and laughing on top of our voices. We stopped at the centre of the desert to see the beautiful scene - feel the heat and the beautiful mounds of sand together with other tourists and take pictures. From there, we were all driven to the camp at the other side of the desert. The sunset at the camp is a beauty to behold. There we had a cocktail, a camel ride, Henna designing and temporal tattoo before we settled for some desert biking. We were later treated at night to a sensational belly dance and Tanura show. We ended the safari with a sumptuous Barbeque and buffet dinner before we departed for our various hotels. Dubai is a tourist’s delight indeed. I’m happy I have the experience recorded in my diary.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Islam

39 E X H O RTAT I O N

25 Rabi Al-Awaal 1436 AH

“THERE SHALL BE NO COMPULSION IN [ACCEPTANCE OF] THE RELIGION. THE RIGHT COURSE HAS BECOME CLEAR FROM THE WRONG. SO WHOEVER DISBELIEVES IN TAGHUT AND BELIEVES IN ALLAH HAS GRASPED THE MOST TRUSTWORTHY HANDHOLD WITH NO BREAK IN IT. AND ALLAH IS HEARING AND KNOWING.” (QUR’AN 2:256)

UNDERSTAND YOUR FAITH

POLYGAMY IN ISLAM QUESTION

Why did the Prophet have so many wives? Does Islam really encourage polygamy? ANSWER

Thank you for the ongoing dialogue with our page. We enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth with you, as it seems you’re researching Islam diligently. Women are often brought into the picture when discussing Islam because their status—if not studied thoroughly and objectively— is severely misunderstood. Under those inaccurate assumptions, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is often accused of practicing and encouraging unjust treatment of women, while the truth is actually the opposite—as I hope you will see after reading this answer. The Quran Is the Only Holy Book That Actually Says “Marry Only One” Images of “sheikhs with harems” are not consistent with Islam, as, in fact, the general rule in Islam is monogamy not polygamy. the Quran says what means: {Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.} (An-Nisaa’ 3:3) Polygamy in Islam is not recommended; it is only permitted under certain guidelines. Permission to practice polygamy is not associated with mere satisfaction of passion. It is, rather, associated with compassion toward widows and orphans. Before the Quran was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygamy, and many men had more than four wives. Islam put an upper limit of four wives, permitting a man to marry more than once, only on the condition that he deals justly with all of them. Yet the same verse points out: {Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women} (Al-Nisaa’ 3:129)

L-R: Operations Manager, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, Mallam Ma’aruf Ahmed, a beneficiary, Mr Sufian Muhammed, and Chief Imam of Nsukka, Enugu State, Alhaji Yakubu Omeh, during presentation of a sewing machine to Ahmed at Z and S Zakat distribution at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Why 25 Nigerians died performing Hajj in 2014 –Report FEAT Hajj committee gives a pass mark to NAHCON for a Hajj successive operation Stories by Adeola Yusuf

wenty-five Nigerian pilgrims died while performing the 2014 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia due to ill-health, anxiety and stress, the Hajj report has revealed. The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu-led committee report, which has been submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan, however stated that measures must be put in place to end the number of casualties during the subsequent operations.

Saying that the operations in which over 76, 000 Nigerian participated, was successive, the report called on the federal government to end the sponsorship of pilgrims to holy land. According to the report, Lagos and Sokoto recorded three death cases each due to cancer, heart problems, leukaemia and diabetes, with about 64 per cent of the deceased being above 50 years of age. Head, Medical Team for the 2014 Hajj, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, also said that the stress and anxiety also made seven others to be hospitalised out of the 76,000 pilgrims that performed the Hajj rites while some psychiatric cases were also recorded. “We recorded 25 deaths and seven others hospitalised. Also, we recorded some

psychiatric cases which are largely due to anxiety, excitement and stress that come with Hajj which we have been able to manage and the psychiatric cases are normal now.” “6,000 Nigerian pilgrims have visited the six clinics being operated by the medical mission in Jeddah, Medina and Mecca, as a result of cold and hypertension,” Kana said. Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Muhammed Abubakar III, who handed over the report to President Jonathan, has asked the federal government to begin the process of handing off any form of funding for pilgrims to the annual Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia. He said that one of the few problems staring the op-

erations in Nigeria has been the clamour for its self sustenance. This, he said, “will make federal government spend virtually less or nothing in our quest to have an independent Hajj operations in Nigeria. “We know about the report of the national conference about federal government dealing with Hajj issues and we will like to suggest, before the President takes a stand on that, maybe he should set up a small technical committee, comprising religious leaders of both Christians and Muslims to see how we can be self sustaining and independent: how the various statutes that put together these two commissions could be amended so that we could go ahead and start sourcing for funds.”

2015 polls: MURIC cautions against military deployment

he Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has cautioned the military against interference in the forthcoming general elections. The group said this in a statement by its National coordinator, Professor Ishaq Akintola. MURIC, according to the statement, appealed to the Nigerian Army to stay out of politics, saying that this was the only way the military could retain its integrity. “Politicking is unprofessional for any military institution and the Nigerian Army should not be portrayed as the military wing of the ruling party. In addition, involvement of the Nigerian military will be an unnecessary and debili-

tating distraction in the war against insurgents,” the statement read. The Nigerian political arena, Akintola said, became tense in the last week of year 2014 as both the Nigerian police and the Nigeria Army issued terse warnings to politicians to watch their utterances. “To cap the edifice, President Jonathan also flashed the yellow card threatening to deal with trouble-makers in 2015. “Sequel to the warnings, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, a key opposition figure and spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC), raised the alarm that security agents were making moves to arrest him. “The Muslim Rights Con-

cern (MURIC) wishes to caution the major dramatis personae (the Presidency, the ruling party, the opposition, the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police) on the need to observe decorum, adopt civilised behaviour, respect the rule of law and strictly adhere to the principles of democracy,” the statement read. It continued: “These are the only ways to avoid throwing Nigeria into chaos before, during and after the 2015 general elections. “The Nigeria Police is reminded that it belongs to the Nigerian people and not to any political party. We frown upon ugly incidents in the past in which the police stood akimbo as hooligans attacked mem-

bers of the opposition or acts of connivance in which policemen protected members of the ruling party as they commited acts of impunity. “The only way the Nigeria Police can build confidence in the people is not only by remaining neutral but by being seen to be transparently impartial. “In particular, we warn the Nigeria Police and other security agencies not to toy with the idea of arresting or detaining members of the opposition on flimsy excuses and trumped-up charges. “The arrest of Lai Muhammed during the Osun State gubernatorial election was in bad taste. It was an assault on free speech”.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Leisure Arcade NUTS

NTPuzzle

By Kaycee

Marine Life Word Search Find the words below in the puzzle S P S L H 0 L A W L

D R C L

A U S E A S T A R E T S B O L H S S H B G T E L C R L R S R E L A H W K C A B P M U H L

R T R R E D N U O L F A A K K

MAMA LASISI

By Aliu Eroje

R C G R M R E Y F S R N N R E I

A L U 0 S

M M W B

E D A L

N U E A O I U I O R I M I H E G R E E N T U R T L E O U S D G C T B S

S L

F C O N Q R E

U H A N N E R P G C R E S R A L I

MOYIN & FRIENDS

By Ayo Oyerinde

K S A

A R I

L N S L I

E L C A N R A B I

S I

Y F I

E L L

S O C I

N D D O L

S H G F M A T

R R N A R S T

E S L

Humpback

Urchin

Moon snail

Anemone

whale

Sea star

Barnacle

Shark

Sponge

Lobster

Green turtle

Skate

Harbor seal

Surf clam

Sand dollar

Squid

Herring gull

Eel grass

Hermit crab

Flounder

Jellyfish

NTJokes SUDOKU - Answer to No 35

SUDOKU - No 36

How to play

Sudoku

ALIU EROJE

CHIEF CARTOONIST aliu.eroje@newtelegraphonline.com

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

BET A man walks into a bar, sits down and orders a drink. He then notices a Jar that is full of money. The man asked the bartender what the jar was for. The bartender said that he had a donkey in the back room and if anyone could make him laugh they would win the money. If not they give the owner 100 dollars. The man thought for a while and said, “I can do it!” So he goes into the back room and in about 5 minutes later the bartender hears the donkey laughing out loud. The man walks out, takes the money from the jar, thanks the bartender and leaves. About a month later the man comes back into the bar and notices a new jar of money. The man asks the bartender what the new jar of money is for. The bartender looked at the man and said, “If you can make the donkey cry the money is yours, if not you owe me 100 dollars.” The man thought for a while and said,”Ok, I’ll do it!” He walks into the back room and in about 2 minutes comes back. The bartender hears the donkey crying. The man grabs the money out of the jar, but before he could leave the bartender asked him, “How did you make the donkey laugh last time?” The man looked at the bartender and said, “Well, the first time I told the donkey that I had a bigger dick then he did”. “And how did you make him cry this time?” asked the bartender. “Well, I showed him!”

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Crime

Violence-free election impossible, Nigerians say

The bombed APC secretariat

Burnt Jonathan campaign bus

Juliana Francis

s the 2015 general election dances on the threshold, a lot of Nigerians have become apprehensive that violence freepolls would be impossible, no thanks to the explosive comments from candidates and political parties, culminating in setting ablaze of campaign vehicles belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and bombing of All Progressives Congress’s (APC) party secretariat. The electorates don’t need a crystal ball to be able to decipher the handwriting on the wall. If things continue this way, the elections will take blood! Politicians, candidates and supporters have continued to unsheathe claws and bared sharpened fangs as the campaigns progressed. Normally, candidates are supposed to unveil their manifestoes for Nigerians as they canvass for votes, but now, respected candidates have shockingly degenerated to attacking personalities,

JULIANA FRANCIS CRIME Editor

juliana.francis@newtelegraphonline.com

Jonathan and Buhari

instead of issues bedeviling the country. The dirty name callings and mudslinging came to a head with the attack and setting ablaze of two campaign buses of President Goodluck Jonathan by some youths at the Mangu Street junction in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. These youths are likely playing out scripts given to them by politicians. Before people could get over the shock of the burnt campaign buses, explosion rocked the secretariat of the APC in Abam Ama, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State. A badly shaken Inspector-General of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba, who is presently beginning to realise the herculean task ahead of him, come February, condemned the two senseless pre-election violence, stressing that buildings and

properties worth millions of naira, belonging to PDP and APC were damaged. Abba reminded politicians, party supporters and well-meaning Nigerians, that politics was a means of enthroning custodians of the people’s common wealth, for the overall benefit of all. “As such, it should be played with every sense of decorum devoid of religious, ethnic and all other forms of primordial sentiments,” said Abba. He assured Nigerians that the perpetrators of these unaccepted and heinous acts would not go unpunished as the police would do all it takes to bring them to justice. But who in the political parties is paying attention to Abba or taking his threat seriously? If Abba wants to be heard and listened to, he needs to do more than talk

and threaten. He needs to take action before conflagration engulfs the country before, during and after February elections. Security experts, who spoke on the issue, said that Nigerians should kiss goodbye to any notion of having a violence free elections. Indeed, their words were like a clarion call, as they charged the electorates to be prepared for any eventualities. Dr. Ona Ekhomu, Chairman, TransWorld Security, Security and Investigations, said: “We definitely can’t have a violence free election! The election is already being marred by violence right now. The electorates are very violent. Their actions are violent. There are indications that no matter who wins the election, there is going to be disagreement, perhaps even violence!” A former Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav said: “The whole thing is very frightening. Recently, they burnt some campaign buses in Jos and they also bombed the office of the APC in Rivers State. Today, (Tuesday) we read in the papers that the home of the National Chairman of APC in Abuja, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was raided. We don’t know what is going to happen next. It appears our politicians are not patient and have not learnt anything. Corruption is the only thing responsible for all these! The issue of election violence is very frightening. Already, they have started rehearsing. The burning of Jonathan’s campaign buses is very sad. And the politicians are not helping matters. They issue threats to one another and tell lies. These lies are threatening the peace and security of this country. ” C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 2

Crime

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘This election will be litmus test for IGP’ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4 1

A crime analyst, Mr. Folorusho Atta, on the other hand, argued that a lot depends on Abba, if the country must not go up in flames during and after the elections. He said the elections will be a litmus test for Abba. His words: “This election shall be a litmus test for the Nigeria Police Force and IGP in particular. It’s going to make or mar the force. It also depends on the role Abba and his men will play. If the IGP decides to start announcing elections results like it was done by someone in 1983, posterity will never forgive him and his men. If the police play their statutory roles well, remain unbiased, there won’t be post-election violence.” Speaking further, Ekhomu said that political violence was not the way elections are contested. He explained that when one is contesting, the person should make provisions for the fact that he may lose or win. “The mindset of the electorate right now, is like, ‘If my man doesn’t win, we would set the whole place on fire.’ The problems are the political parties,” said Ekhomu. “The parties are conducting the candidates and the parties are giving and contesting the elections. The candidates are mere figure heads in an electoral system. In Nigeria, when we vote, we vote for party, not the candidate. The candidate only carries the message of the party. “What is happening right now is that the parties are becoming very violent in their rhetoric and actions. Right now, we’re in the midst of a lot of electoral violence. Just yesterday (Monday), the APC office was bombed. From several media reports, we see that Commissioners of Police in every state are warning politicians to calm down their supporters or they would be arrested for incitement. “An Imam was arrested by the police in one of the western states after he gave a speech in the mosque. What I’m trying to say, is that there’s a lot of violence already. Asking whether there would be violence next month is a forgone conclusion!” Ekhomu said that the only solution would have been, if the security agencies could deal with the problems unveiling right now, before the elections proper. “If security agencies can arrest people for inciting comments and prosecute them, that will help. But there should be glaring and abundance of evidences to show that an individual has crossed the line or was involved in acts of violence before he should be arrested and prosecuted. This is to ensure that the law enforcement officers are not accused of being partial. What we do now, will lay the foundation for mid-February, end and beyond.” He noted that the real violence, especially in Nigeria, usually starts after the elections, when votes had been declared. He further said: “Some parties are already saying they won’t accept the outcome of the election when election had not been held. And it’s very unfortunate. People who make such statements should be invited by law enforcement for questioning. “I don’t know why our security agencies are doing us a great disservice by being very laid back, lackadaisical and intellectually lazy. You don’t need to be a genius to know a statement that is inciting. If somebody says he’s not going to accept the results, security agents should ask him, which election results does he already know or has in his pockets. Such statement sets the stage for violence. When they lose, their supporters will unleash violence because they had already been told not to accept the result. And

Another Jonathan campaign bus in flames

Abba

that’s the worst form of creating incitement and violence!” Tsav said that most political office holders had stolen and since nothing had been done to them, others now wanted to come and steal, while those who are there still wanted to remain there at all cost. “If we have a way of fighting corruption, all these rubbish will not be there!” railed Tsav. “In the case of security agencies; the time is too short for them to any proffer solution for these entire crises. When we were under British rule and you have a situation like this, you send plainclothes security men to integrate with these politicians and pretend to be part of them.” He said that the police could have done well by recruiting young school leavers who are presently roaming the streets. These school leavers could have been trained and given undercover police jobs to do, in tensed political situations.

Tsav said: “They’ll get information that will help the country a great deal. But we are not doing that! The Policemen and Department of State Security (DSS) we have these days are always quick to flash their identity cards. If you’re undercover and identify yourself, your cover is blown. Police should have had plainclothes policemen to integrate into society with politicians, criminals and know the situation on ground, so that they can work on it. “But here, everyone is anxious to make money and get a new rank, without putting efforts into the job. We appeal to politicians to be God-fearing and stop making explosive situations that could create trouble in this country. We don’t know who would be consumed by the time this trouble starts. Innocent and old people may be consumed. The electorates should vote wisely.” Atta has a post-election advice for

Abba and his men. Hear him: “I think that after the elections, the police should place their priority on other crimes such as insurgency, armed robbery and kidnapping which in recent years, had reached its crescendo. The police, while grappling with elections activities, must spread her tentacles to other areas as criminals and undesirable elements may want to perfect their acts or use this period to attack citizens and foreigners. “Without being pessimistic, 2015 poses danger to police as criminals and insurgents are increasingly becoming difficult for the police and her sisters agencies to tackle. The police might not triumph over criminals as the criminals are getting more sophisticated, acquiring high caliber weapon to the obsolete and antiquated weaponry of the police.” He further suggested that for a standard police force, the federal government must fund the police properly, so that it can perform optimally this year. Atta said: “Since gadgets and patrol vehicles are inanimate things, well trained personnel are needed to man them. The Nigerian Police Force remains the worst in Africa when it comes to maintenance culture and indiscipline. The IGP must rise up and act!” If the ongoing political wrangling and violence continue, many electorates may be forced to stay at home, keeping away from polling booths. Perhaps the most pivotal and daunting challenges before Abba, is this forthcoming elections. Abba must do everything within his power to ensure that the elections will be violent-free one. It’s vital and necessary for him to synergise, not just with INEC, but also with other security agencies. As for the electorates, they should not allow themselves to be used as pawns on a chess board. They should vote quickly and quietly and go back home, to keep out of harm’s way. They should avoid unnecessary or planned bickering at polling booths, aimed at disorganising and causing mayhem. They should not forget that when anarchy is loosened, they and their kids are the ones mostly likely to be killed. The politicians and their kids will never be there. Most of their kids and loved ones are already overseas.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Photo | News

L-R: Deputy Governor, Ekiti State, Dr. Kolapo Olusola; Barrister Dele Adesina, SAN; Director, MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Ekiti State Governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose; Director, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode and Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, during the presentation of MTNF Security Vehicles to the Ekiti State government in Ado Ekiti.

L-R: General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Director, University of Ibadan (UI) Zoological Garden, Dr Olajumoke Morenikeji and Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Adewole, at the commissioning of the institution’s newly upgraded Zoological Gardens in Ibadan.

L-R: Former Minister of Power, Mr Bath Nnaji; Enugu State Deputy Governor, Rev. Ralph Nwoye; Obi of Onitsha, Chief Alfred Anichebe; wife of the author, Lolo Nwakaego and author, Prof. Chiweyite Ejike, during the presentation of a book entitled Aguowulu My Journey Through Life, A Destiny Redeemed in Enugu.

L-R: Rector, Markaz Arabic and Islamic Training Centre, Agege, Lagos, Sheikh Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory; Sheikh Ya’qub Abdullah El-Ilory and Olori Ratibi of Egba, Sheikh Sa’d Bamgbola, at a special prayer for the forthcoming general election at the centre. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

L-R: Leader of the Pre-Feed Concept Evaluation Team, United Kingdom (UK), Mr. Giampanlo Bachmann; Chairman/Board of Directors, Brass LNG Limited, Dr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki; Managing Director, Mr. Glovanni Romani and Total Shareholder Representatives, Mr. Joel Hervochon, at a dinner in honour of Pre-Feed Concept Evaluation Team visiting Brass LNG Limited from London, in Lagos.

R-L: Financial Secretary, NASFAT, Alhaji Ajiroba Maroof; General Secretary, Alhaji Alaraba Kabeer; Vice President, Mohammed Mijinjawa; widow of late Prophet Gabriel Fakeye, Mrs. Grace; Women Affairs Secretary, NASFAT, Alhaja Samiat Mumuni and the late prophet’s children, during a condolence visit of NASFAT team to the Fakeye family in Lagos.

L-R: Lagos State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Deji Elumoye; APC Lagos Senatorial West District candidate, Hon. Solomon Olamilekan Adeola and his Media Adviser, Mr. Kayode Odunaro, during a press conference on his aspiration in Lagos yesterday. PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Women in Focus and Entertainment (W.I.F.E MEDIA) and Organiser, Miss West Africa UK, Ms. Chinonso Jenifa Asiegbu; Resident Country Coordinator, Save Nigeria 2015, Mr. Kennedy Iyere; Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri and Miss West Africa UK 2014 and Youth Ambassador, Ms. Victoria ChiChi Okafor, during an advocacy visit on the need for Peaceful conduct of 2015 General Election, in Abuja.

Business | Money Line

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Foreign reserves fall to $34.51b IMPORT Depletion of foreign reserves leave Nigeria with few months of import cover Godson Ikoro

igeria’s foreign exchange reserves yesterday fell to $34.51 billion by January 13, down 20.2 per cent from $43.24 billion a year earlier, owing to drawdowns by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to defend the naira. Data released by the apex bank yesterday according to Reuters News, indicated that the reserves have steadily declined, falling 3.2 per cent month-onmonth from December, when they stood at $35.66 billion. The naira has remained under pressure, trading outside

Naira down by 1.2%

the central bank’s target band of N160-176 to the dollar, as oil prices plunge. This is despite a devaluation meant to find the currency’s true value and shore up Nigeria’s foreign reserves. Specifically, the naira fell 1.2 per cent to close at N185.60 to the greenback yesterday, despite the central bank intervening with dollar sales to try to prop up the currency, according to dealers. The unit opened at N183.40 to the greenback, the same level it closed at the previous day. But quickly weakened to an intraday low of N186.30 in thin trade, prompting the central bank to intervene, dealers said. The bank yesterday asked 21 commercial lenders to bid for $500,000 each, in an intervention move aimed at providing liquidity to the interbank market and supporting the

Agbaje: Exports diversification, solution for Nigeria’s economic woes Godson Ikoro

he Senior Consultant/ Chief Executive Officer, RTC Advisory Services Limited, Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje yesterday stressed the need for the federal government to initiate policies and incentives that would encourage non-oil exports in Nigeria. He said this while speaking at a forum titled: “Review of 2014 and Projections for 2015,” organised by the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), in Lagos. He said: “We have achieved significant diversification in terms of local production and consumption, but we are not competitive in exports.” Agbaje argued that South Africa’s exports revenue is driven by South African companies such as MTN, DSTV, South African Breweries, and a lot of other companies, stressing that it is not the sale of commodity. Accordingly, he said the challenge for the Nigerian economy is for government to create policies and incentives that will allow our private sector to become exporters. He said that if Nigeria’s export revenue was earned by thousands of Nigerian companies exporting their services, the economy would not collapse anytime the price of oil falls. “We also need to start refining our oil domestically and exporting it. We should be one of the biggest exporters of refined petroleum products in the world. “There are significant opportunities in Nigeria. If you look at the structure of Nigeria’s GDP, you will see that huge opportunities abound in Nigeria.” On the structure of domestic production, he said Nigeria

has done a good job of diversification, but the problem is that the structure of export and government revenue is yet to do enough. He noted that exports are still exclusively oil - of about 90 per cent and government’s revenue comes from that sale of the commodity. “So clearly, two things would happen, we would have to diversify exports and domestically, government would have to diversify its income, which means to increase focus on tax,”he said From the point of business there are still sectors that hold promise for significant growth. He cited e-commerce space, like Konga and Jumia and the growth that is going on in that sector and real estate, which is now eight per cent of the economy. He added that entertainment, which is the fastest growing sector in the Nigerian economy, is also a sector to watch out for. Likewise he said some success in manufacturing around food, beverages and tobacco and cement, which has significant growth rate, hospitality, hotels, construction, all of which are growing above 12 per cent, look at the power sector. He said: “The implication is that by the time new investments begins to happen after the investors sort out their indebtedness, those people who borrowed heavily to buy power assets, will spend the next 18 months restructuring their finances by exchanging the shorter debts they quickly borrowed to pay with longer term debts so that they can breadth. “Till they do that, they won’t be in a position to make new investments in power generation.”

The Central Bank was forced to devalue the naira two months ago to halt the slides in its foreign reserves, after the country’s main export commodity, oil plunged. The bank devalued the naira by 8 percent and tightened trading rules to try to curb speculation against the currency. But the naira has traded

naira, which has been hard hit by falling global oil prices. “I think central bank will try to control any uptrend in the currency, to provide liquidity to the market. But for how long is the question,” one dealer told Reuters.

well outside its devalued band of N160-176 - and reserves are still falling. At a separate dollar sale, the central bank sold $249 million to lenders at N168 at its twice-weekly forex auction on Wednesday to help meet demand for the greenback, higher than the $200 million it earlier offered.

FMBN to be re-capitalised, says MD fordable housing to Nigerians as well as improving service delivery to NHF contributors across the country. We also plan to look at improvement of members of staff welfare across board to ensure a well motivated workforce and profitable operations”. The FMBN boss said that the completion of ongoing housing estate projects under the Ministerial Pilot Housing Scheme nationwide and the completion of the Goodluck Jonathan Legacy Estate in Kaba District in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, will be vigorously pursued. He assured the Federal Government and other stakeholders in the sector, of their determination to sustain the cordial relationship they enjoyed in the previous years, requesting that the same support and cooperation enjoyed by the previous executive management team be equally extended to the present team.

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

anaging Director of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Gimba Ya’u Kumo has vowed to recapitalise the bank and improve its balance sheet structure as well as consolidate its standing as a financial institution. He made the pledge in Abuja during the inauguration of newly constituted board for bank by the Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi. He assured Nigerians that the bank would work to continue to provide quality and affordable houses to Nigeria and strive to improve its balance sheet. In his words: “Our strategy will involve developing pro-active and effective strategies to attract offshore funding for af-

“As a returning member of the team, I have had the privilege of experiencing the various challenges facing the FMBN as well as the housing sector in general,” he said. Earlier, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said the team of FMBN board was reconstituted to reinvigorate the bank and effectively reposition it to meet the present and future challenges and gave a fresh mandate to the management to make house ownership easier for most Nigerians. The commended the performance of the FMBN in previous years, saying the bank continues to be one of the performing organisations in the country. She urged the team to create room for innovators and strategic thinkers in the bank to flourish by reconfiguring the human resources management architecture of the bank.

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

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

Description

TTM

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

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

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

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

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

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

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

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

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

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

Business | Financial Market News

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

15-Jan-15

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

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

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

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

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

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

535.00 581.39 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 414.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 178.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,783.63

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,379.52

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

0.27 1.58 2.28 2.53 2.63 3.37 4.45 4.77 7.03 9.16 13.87 14.35 14.85 15.52 19.50

11.65 15.04 15.20 15.25 15.25 15.27 15.26 15.32 15.36 15.45 14.29 14.15 14.00 14.71 15.22

11.07 14.93 15.12 15.17 15.17 15.14 15.17 15.20 15.30 15.39 14.24 14.09 13.93 14.65 15.16

97.98 97.25 99.75 88.99 87.60 88.26 102.30 72.53 104.30 93.90 104.20 89.90 65.96 71.50 81.00

98.13 97.40 99.90 89.14 87.75 88.56 102.60 72.83 104.60 94.20 104.50 90.20 66.26 71.80 81.30

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

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

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

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

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 2.70 112.22 116.70 66.49

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

0.35 1.22 1.90 2.26 2.47

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

15.08 17.31 17.15 16.21 16.24

94.90 100.00 98.25 96.47 93.24

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.67

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

310.84

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.62

4.44

18.52

96.56

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.46

3.23

16.66

99.20

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.98

4.46

19.43

95.54

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.98

3.48

18.45

97.65

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.26

1.00

16.21

88.58

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.52

1.00

16.07

97.11

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.96

1.79

17.05

93.12

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.13

1.80

16.99

95.02

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.72

1.00

16.28

93.76

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.33

1.00

16.22

96.99

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.33

4.78

20.00

89.68

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.51

1.00

16.25

96.66

A/Agusto; A-/GCR ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

*GOMBE LAGOS

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12

15.50 14.50 14.75

16.23 80.00 26.62

02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19

2.77 4.85 2.83

1.00 1.00 2.74

16.25 16.32 17.99

98.60 94.00 93.25

‡ /Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.10

10-Oct-20

3.38

1.00

16.27

96.31

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.87

1.00

16.37

89.38

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.96

1.94

17.32

91.57

‡ /Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.55

31-Dec-20

3.62

1.44

16.71

94.47

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.56

06-Jan-21

3.65

1.95

17.23

94.46

97.21

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

460.61 428.87

Corporate Bonds ‡ /Agusto A-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.35

4.88

17.21

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

9.34

09-Dec-15

0.66

1.00

15.15

98.56

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.73

2.63

16.98

98.18

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.70

1.00

16.11

95.46

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.78

1.34

16.47

96.64

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.71

1.00

16.25

93.04

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.73

1.88

17.00

102.51

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.73

3.48

18.60

96.60

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

1.90

5.20

20.35

96.69

1.90

5.06

20.21

101.78

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.69

1.35

16.63

92.91

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.01

2.29

17.46

97.52

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

18.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.09

6.11

21.29

94.77

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.96

2.16

17.42

96.96

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.83

2.76

18.13

89.82

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.71

1.00

16.45

78.39

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.71

1.00

16.45

84.70

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

124.44

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

116.37

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.07

1.00

16.26

85.76

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.30

1.00

16.30

85.15

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 21.32

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

7.17

6.89

97.96

99.32

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

6.18

5.74

96.74

98.09

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

7.31

7.13

94.16

95.23

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

1,444.31

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

55.13

47.30

68.80

73.20

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

6.99

100.63

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

11.22

91.50

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

11.93

11.23

86.50

88.25

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

9.20

9.08

89.91

90.27

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

29.68

24.20

54.84

64.29

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

9.21

89.75

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

14.80

13.46

81.10

84.87

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

9.96

92.00

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

AFREN PLC III ACCESS BANK PLC II FIRST BANK LTD

6.63 DEC 09, 2020 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

09-Dec-13 24-Jun-14 23-Jul-14

6.63 9.25 8.00

360.00 400.00 450.00

09-Dec-20 24-Jun-21 23-Jul-21

19.73 12.50 11.35

19.73 12.19 11.35

55.50 85.75 84.00

55.50 87.00 84.00

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.69

9.60

90.07

94.95

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,949.54

**Treasury Bills DTM 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56

FIXINGS Maturity 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 12-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 12-Mar-15

Bid Discount (%) 8.99 9.48 10.20 9.40 9.13 9.55 11.20 11.00

Offer Discount (%) 8.74 9.23 9.95 9.15 8.88 9.30 10.95 10.75

Bid Yield (%) 9.01 9.51 10.26 9.47 9.21 9.66 11.37 11.19

Money Market Tenor

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 9.9583 13.3641 14.5491 15.9889

Rate (%)

OBB

8.33

O/N

9.17

Tenor Call 1M

REPO

Rate (%) 8.50 13.20

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

186.00 186.09 186.38 187.06 188.32 189.58

186.10 186.19 186.52 187.52 189.32 191.07

Rating/Agency

Description

Issuer

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

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

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 2.70 112.22 116.70 66.49

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

0.35 1.22 1.90 2.26 2.47

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

15.08 17.31 17.15 16.21 16.24

94.90 100.00 98.25 96.47 93.24

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

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.67

Business | Financial Market News 46 TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

310.84

Sub-National Bonds

Transcorp Hotels boosts market cap by N76bn A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.62

4.44

18.52

96.56

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.46

3.23

16.66

99.20

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.98

4.46

19.43

95.54

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.98

3.48

18.45

97.65

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.26

1.00

16.21

88.58

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.52

1.00

16.07

97.11

‡ /Agusto

EDO

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.96

1.79

17.05

93.12

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

96.60

LISTING

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

NIGER

Another hospitality *NIGER *ONDO services company begins A/Agusto; A-/GCR *GOMBE ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS trading on NSE *OSUN A/Agusto; A-/GCR ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

‡ /Agusto

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

‡ /Agusto

*OSUN

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

Stories by Chris Ugwu ‡ /Agusto *EKITI A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

T A-/GCR

KOGI

*NASARAWA

ranscorp VALUE Hotels Plc, a TOTAL OUTSTANDING hospitality subsidiary TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

of Transnational Corporation of*UPDC Nigeria ‡ /Agusto Plc (Transcorp Plc), *FLOURMILLS yesterday A-/Agusto BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS enhanced market capitalisation A+/Agusto; A-/GCR at the Nigerian StockNAHCO Exchange A-/Agusto FSDH (NSE) by N76 billionUBA following A/GCR admission of its shares the BBB-/GCR *C & I on LEASING Corporate Bonds

company intends to to lever30-Sep-11 14.00 04-Oct-11 14.00 past age on the success of the to grow09-Dec-11 and expanded14.50 for the 12-Dec-13 14.00 benefit of its shareholders. 14-Feb-12 15.50 “We will continue to15.50 run the 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 14.50 company in terms of integ12-Dec-12 14.75 rity and10-Oct-13 corporate governance 14.75 27-Nov-13 13.50 our principles. We will overtake 31-Dec-13 15.00 parents company. We will con31-Dec-13 14.50 tinue to 06-Jan-14 run the company in an 15.00 efficient and profitable manner. Shareholders who participated in our offer will be part of dividend in 17-Aug-10 2014,” he said. 10.00 Transcorp 09-Dec-10Hotels raised 12.00 N4.2 14.00offerbillion in06-Jan-11 an initial public ing that 29-Sep-11 was made to the13.00 invest25-Oct-13 14.25 ing public between September 30-Sep-10 13.00 and October share 30-Nov-12 2014. The 18.00

floor of the local bourse. 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00listing NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 “The represents a EKITI 09-DEC-2018 major14.50 milestone for us in our 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 steady15.50 march towards becomONDO 14-FEB-2019 ing the15.50 leading provider of hosGOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 pitality services in sub-Saharan 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 Africa,” Managing 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020Director and Chief Executive 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020Officer KOGI 31-DEC-2020 of the15.00 company , Mr. Valentine 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 Ozigbo, said shortly after the 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 listing of the company’s shares. The company’s 7.6 billion shares worth N76 billion were listed 10.00 by UPDC introduction on the 17-AUG-2015 main board of the9-DEC-2015 NSE at N10 12.00 FLOURMILLS 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 per share. 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 Addressing the investment 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 community on the floor of 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 the Exchange, Ozigbo said the 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

price share. 34.14 is N10 per 30-Sep-18 2.13 9.00 04-Oct-18 Ozigbo, who unveiled 3.72 the 13.73 2.33 group’s plans09-Dec-18 for accelerated 10.20 12-Dec-18 2.33 growth and sector 27.00 14-Feb-19 leadership 2.51 this “We are lever16.23year, said: 02-Oct-19 2.77 80.00 22-Nov-19 aging on a formidable team4.85 of 26.62 12-Dec-19 2.83 experts, and we are well-posi11.10 10-Oct-20 3.38 87.50 27-Nov-20 delivering 5.87 tioned to continue 5.00 31-Dec-20 5.96 world-class hospitality ser4.55 31-Dec-20 3.62 vices to our stakeholders. As a 4.56 06-Jan-21 3.65 publicly-listed company on the 460.61 NSE, 428.87our shareholders can be assured of high standards of disclosure and17-Aug-15 transparency0.35 , in 3.61 addition to achieving superior 9.34 09-Dec-15 0.66 0.42 06-Jan-16 0.73 returns to shareholder and con15.00 29-Sep-16 1.70 sistent delivery of world class 5.53 25-Oct-16 1.78 experience to all our guests.” 20.00 30-Sep-17 2.71 The Chief Executive Officer 0.64 30-Nov-17 1.73

of the 1.80Exchange, 16.99Oscar Onyema, 95.02 1.00 that the 16.28 93.76 noted NSE was hon1.00 16.22 96.99 oured and privileged to list the 4.78 20.00 89.68 hotel and would ensure full world 1.00 16.25 96.66 class compliance 1.00 16.25at all times. 98.60 1.00 16.32 94.00 Transcorp Plc President and 2.74 17.99 93.25 Chief Executive Officer, 1.00 16.27 96.31 Mr. 1.00 16.37 89.38 Emmanuel Nnorom, expressed 1.94 17.32 91.57 his delight over the bell ringing 1.44 16.71 94.47 ceremony , saying: “It has been a 1.95 17.23 94.46 privilege for us to be honoured in this way by the NSE. Our ringing of the bell today is clearly symbolic, because we 97.21 intend 4.88 17.21 to make great,15.15 resonant sounds 1.00 98.56 2.63 16.98 throughout this year, our98.18 target 1.00 16.11 is the establishment of 95.46 Trans1.34 16.47 96.64 corp1.00 Hilton Hotel in Ikoyi,93.04 Lagos 16.25 and1.88 another at17.00 Port Harcourt.” 102.51

Nil

*DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.73

3.48

18.60

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

1.90

5.20

20.35

96.69

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

1.90

5.06

20.21

101.78

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.69

1.35

16.63

92.91

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.01

2.29

17.46

97.52

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

18.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.09

6.11

21.29

94.77

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

16.00 2.96 2.16 17.42 96.96 he Securities and Ex-4.50 ment. 01-Apr-19 SEC noted that the exer14-Nov-20 5.83 2.76 18.13 89.82 14-Nov-13 15.25 2.05 change Commission The commission excise was not aimed at punish30-Sep-14 11.93 0.10 30-Sep-24 9.71 1.00 16.45 78.39 said that the15.44 plained 30-Sep-24 that it was a9.71well- ing any staff 30-Sep-14 (SEC) has 13.25 1.00 or victimising 16.45 84.70 redeployment exercise being due to his or her loyalty to 124.44known fact that capacity carried out in the organisasome individuals as being 116.37building is a necessary buildtion was strategically done ing block for any capital mar- insinuated in some quarters; to strengthen the regulatory12.00 ket regulation. Thus,3.07 many instead it is16.26 for the overall in11-Feb-13 10.20 11-Feb-18 1.00 85.76 to be posted4.30 to the terest mechanism of11.25 the Commis-12.95 staff had01-Feb-21 of the market . 85.15 10-Jul-14 1.00 16.30 sion through efficient han-24.95Commission’s Learning and It noted: “The role that dling of complaints from the21.32Career Development Divi- SEC Nigeria plays in the nainvesting public. sion for continuous training. tion’s economy is very critiOutstanding Value Issue The Date Coupon (%) Date Bid (%) Offer Yield (%) such Bid Price Offer Price cal and changes should commission also($mm) “It isMaturity imperative toYield equalnoted that the redeployment ly note that majority of the be expected from time to time & Yields became necessary for timely capital market operators are toPrices strengthen capacity and 07-Oct-11 6.75 7.17 6.89 97.96 use of enforcement machin-500.00based in28-Jan-21 Lagos. Therefore, further improve the 99.32 ability ery where necessary on err-500.00the need to improve the6.18 regu- of the apex 96.74 regulator to carry 12-Jul-13 5.13 12-Jul-18 5.74 98.09 ing capital market operators latory oversight through the out its functions effectively.” 12-Jul-13 6.38 on inves500.00 use of our 12-Jul-23 7.13Besides,94.16 the acting95.23 Direcand improvement Lagos Zonal7.31 Office tor education. was highly desirable. This tor General, Mounir Gwarzo, 1,500.00 “This is why the redeployis why one of the Directors has also assured the staff in 1,444.31 ment affected key divisions was posted to head the Lagos his meeting with them earlier in the week that there was such as, Investigation, En- Zonal Office. 01-Feb-11 11.50 01-Feb-16 55.13 47.30 68.80 nothing to fight about.73.20 He reforcement, Investor Educa-450.00 “However, redeployment 19-May-11 7.50 500.00 19-May-16 6.99 6.99 100.63 100.63 tion and Financial Literacy,” and transfer of staff of the assured staff members that 25-Jul-12 7.25 350.00 25-Jul-17 11.22 11.22 91.50 91.50 Securities and Exchange SEC said in a statement. the present86.50 management is 09-May-13 6.88 300.00 02-May-18 11.93 11.23 88.25 New Telegraph had reportCommission (SEC) Nigeria, committed to returning 08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 9.20 9.08 89.91 90.27 the 08-Apr-12 08-Apr-19 29.68 of 24.20 54.84 64.29 ed yesterday 10.25 that the new300.00especially at the beginning organisation to its tradition22-Apr-14 6.25SEC under 500.00 a new year 22-Apr-19 9.21core values 89.75 experienced 89.75 management at is a usual 9.21 occur- al 21-May-14 8.75 21-May-19 81.10 84.87 acting Director-General and200.00rence and part of its 14.80 strate- a13.46 decade ago and would un07-Aug-13 8.25 300.00 07-Aug-20 9.96 9.96 92.00 92.00 Commissioner, Operations, gies at strengthening the apex dergo corporate rebranding 09-Dec-13 6.63 360.00 09-Dec-20 19.73 19.73 55.50 55.50 Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, had be-400.00regulatory body of the12.50 Nige- to alter battered image 24-Jun-14 9.25 24-Jun-21 12.19 85.75 87.00suf23-Jul-14 8.00 23-Jul-21 11.35 84.00 market,” it11.35 said. gun a massive staff redeploy-450.00rian capital fered in the84.00 past.

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

SEC explains staff redeployment

Seplat refinances $1bn debt eplat Petroleum Develop- +8.75 per cent per annum. The $300 million three-year S ment Company Plc has notified the Nigerian Stock revolving credit facility has

Exchange (NSE) that it has been closed with aIBconsortium 13.25 STANBIC 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR STANBIC IBTC successfully refinanced its of eight international banks TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE existing debt CAPITALISATION facilities with a comprising Bank of America, TOTAL MARKET new $700 million seven-year Merrill Lynch, Citibank, JP Supranational Bond secured term facility and $300 Morgan10.20 Limited, Natixis, NedIFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC million three-year secured re- bank Limited, Merchant 11.25 AFDBRand 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB volving credit facility . Bank, Standard Bank and StanTOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE In aMARKET noticeCAPITALISATION obtained from dard Chartered Bank, with a TOTAL the Exchange’s website by New quarterly reduction schedule Rating/Agency Issuerfrom end DecemberDescription Telegraph, the seven-year facil2015 and ity also includes an option for has a margin of LIBOR +6.00 FGN Eurobonds the company to upsize the facil- per cent per annum. JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P ity by up to an additional $700 “Proceeds from 6.75 draw down BB-/Fitch; for qualifying acquisimillion on these new facilities have FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 BB-/S&P tion opportunities. been used to repay the comBB-/Fitch; 6.38facilities JUL 12, 2023 The company also provides pany’s existing debt BB-/S&P an update on its VALUE operations (totalling $552 million), and TOTAL OUTSTANDING where it has delivered on full will also be used to fund new TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION year 2014 guidance. business and development opCorporate Eurobonds The notice noted that the portunities and for general 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN PLC I $700 million seven-year se- corporate purposes,” it noted. 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I cured term facility has been It explained that7.25 at JUL the25,com2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC closed with a consortium of pany’s operations,6.88net workMAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P FIDELITY BANK PLC banks in Nigeria comprising ing interest production for 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch Bank of Nigeria AFRENLimPLC II First full year 2014 as measured at 6.25 APR 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK ited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc,PLCthe LACT unit (subject to22,final 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC United Bank for Africa Plc and reconciliation) had averaged 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC Zenith Bank Plc and repayable approximately 24,248 bopd and 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III quarterly of June 39.4 MMscfd (approximately 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P from end ACCESS BANK PLC II 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P a margin of FIRST BANK LTD 30,819 boepd). 2015 with LIBOR 8.75 AUG 14, 2021

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

01-Apr-14

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

14-Aug-21

10.69

9.60

4,760.00

90.07

94.95

15-Jan-15

3,949.54

The DQL contains and instruments in the financial (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute **Treasury Bills data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities FIXINGS Moneymarket Market Foreign Exchange (Spot Forwards) professional,DTM financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, theBid Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE”Tenor basis and mayRate not(%) be accurate or up to date. We do & not guarantee Maturity Bid Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) Yield (%) NIBOR the accuracy, 7timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for8.99 a particular purpose of8.74 any of the Information, 22-Jan-15 9.01neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. 14 29-Jan-15 9.48 21 5-Feb-15 10.20 28 12-Feb-15 9.40 FGN Bonds 35 19-Feb-15 9.13 42 26-Feb-15 9.55 49 5-Mar-15 11.20 Rating/Agency Issuer Description 56 12-Mar-15 11.00 63 19-Mar-15 10.61 4.00 23-APR-2015 70 26-Mar-15 11.00 13.05 16-AUG-2016 77 2-Apr-15 12.50 15.10 27-APR-2017 84 9-Apr-15 11.35 91 16-Apr-15 11.00 9.85 27-JUL-2017 98 23-Apr-15 12.00 9.35 31-AUG-2017 105 30-Apr-15 12.70 10.70 30-MAY-2018 112 7-May-15 12.70 16.00 29-JUN-2019 119 14-May-15 12.01 NA NA 7.00 23-OCT-2019 126 21-May-15 13.55 16.39 27-JAN-2022 140 4-Jun-15 14.00 14.20 14-MAR-2024 147 11-Jun-15 13.14 161 25-Jun-15 14.20 15.00 28-NOV-2028 203 6-Aug-15 13.30 12.49 22-MAY-2029 231 3-Sep-15 13.10 8.50 20-NOV-2029 322 3-Dec-15 13.25 10.00 23-JUL-2030 336 17-Dec-15 13.00 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 357 7-Jan-16 13.50 *for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE #

9.23 9.95 9.15 8.88 9.30 10.95 Issue Date 10.75 10.36 23-Apr-10 10.75 16-Aug-13 12.25 27-Apr-12 11.10 10.75 27-Jul-07 11.75 31-Aug-07 12.45 30-May-08 12.45 29-Jun-12 11.76 23-Oct-09 13.30 27-Jan-12 13.75 14-Mar-14 12.89 13.95 28-Nov-08 13.05 22-May-09 12.85 20-Nov-09 13.00 23-Jul-10 12.75 18-Jul-14 13.25

9.51 10.26 9.47 9.21 9.66 11.37 Coupon (%) 11.19 10.81 4.00 11.24 13.05 12.84 15.10 11.65 11.31 9.85 12.40 9.35 13.18 10.70 13.21 16.00 12.50 7.00 14.21 16.39 14.79 14.20 13.87 15.15 15.00 14.36 12.49 14.28 8.50 15.00 10.00 14.77 12.1493 15.55

Bonds

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills Rating/Agency

Issuer

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Rate (%) 9.9583 13.3641 14.5491 15.9889

OBB

8.33

O/N

9.17

REPO

Tenor Call TTM (Yrs) 1M 3M 0.27 6M

Maturity Date

535.00 NITTY 23-Apr-15 581.39 16-Aug-16 Tenor Rate (%) 452.80 27-Apr-17 1M 9.4472 2M 11.0462 20.00 27-Jul-17 3M 11.3241 100.00 31-Aug-17 6M 14.2512 300.00 30-May-18 9M 14.5086 351.30 29-Jun-19 12M 15.8039 233.90 23-Oct-19 600.00 27-Jan-22 414.68 14-Mar-24 NIFEX 75.00 28-Nov-28 Current Price ($/N) 150.00 22-May-29 BID($/N) 185.4125 200.00 20-Nov-29 OFFER ($/N) 185.5125 591.57 23-Jul-30 178.00 18-Jul-34

1.58 15.04 14.93 2.28 15.20 15.12 2.53 15.25 15.17 :Benchmarks 2.63 15.25 15.17 * :Amortising Bond 3.37 15.27 15.14 µ :Convertible Bond 4.45 15.26 15.17 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 4.77Government of Nigeria 15.32 15.20 FGN: Federal 7.03 Mortgage Bank15.36 15.30 FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 9.16 Finance Corporation 15.45 15.39 IFC: International LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables 13.87 14.29 Management 14.24 NAHCO: Nigerian 14.35 Aviation Handling 14.15 Company 14.09 O/N: Overnight 14.85 14.00 13.93 UPDC: UAC Property Development Company 15.52 14.71 14.65 WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company 19.50 15.22 15.16 NOTE:

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

>5 Market

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

186.00 186.10 186.09 186.19 Price 186.38 186.52 187.06 187.52 188.32 189.32 Bid Price Offer Price 189.58 191.07 193.90 196.84 97.98 98.13 203.12 208.64

97.25 97.40 99.75 99.90 88.99 89.14 NA :Not 87.60 Applicable 87.75 # :Floating Rate Bond 88.26 88.56 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 102.30 102.60 72.83 ‡ : Bond72.53 rating under review 104.60 †: Bond104.30 rating expired 94.20 N/A :Not93.90 Available {r} :Issuer in receivership104.50 104.20 89.90 90.20 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 65.96 66.26 UBA: United Bank for Africa 71.50 71.80 81.00 81.30

4,783.63

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

<3 ***LCRM 3<5

13.20 14.09 11.65 15.61

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer 2M Yield (%) 3M 6M 11.07 1Y

4,379.52

Agency Bonds FMBN Buckets Modified Duration

Rate (%)

Bid8.50 Yield (%)

Tenor

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 Total Outstanding Volume(Bn) 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 1,017.06 1,034.18 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 1,374.57 1,365.98 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

567.15

769.57

2,958.78

3,169.73

24-May-12 Weighting by Outstanding 03-Apr-12Vol

09-Dec-11 32.63 20-Apr-12 43.09 06-Jul-12

24.28

100.00

0.00 Weighting by Mkt Value 17.25

0.00/16.00 34.37 0.00/16.50 46.46 0.00/16.50

19.17

100.00

24.56 2.70 112.22 116.70 0.33 66.49 0.43

Bucket Weighting

322.670.24 1.00

310.84

24-May-15 % Exposure_ Mod_Duration 03-Apr-17

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

09-Dec-16 13.73 20-Apr-17 46.10 06-Jul-17

0.35 1.22 1.90 15.12 2.26 15.37 2.47

100.00

40.16

# Risk Premium (%)

Indicative Price

14.84

2.00 117.5391 1.00 119.7921 1.00 86.9629

15.08 17.31 17.15 1,116.38 16.21 1,014.35 16.24 1,016.75

15.12

111.0866

1,060.78

6.0779

Implied Yield

2.63 Implied Portfolio Price 2.27

Valuation Yield (%)

INDEX

94.90 YTD Return (%) 100.00

98.25 11.6382 96.47 1.4354 93.24

1.6749

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.62

4.44

18.52

96.56

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.46

3.23

16.66

99.20

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.98

4.46

19.43

95.54

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.98

3.48

18.45

97.65

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.26

1.00

16.21

88.58

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.52

1.00

16.07

97.11

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.96

1.79

17.05

93.12

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

DEFECTION Ohakim’s days in PDP may be numbered if APC succeeds in giving him a broom Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

n a bid to consolidate its hold in Imo State and the South-East region, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are said to

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

Imo APC woos Ohakim have commenced moves aimed at persuading the former governor of the state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim to join its fold. According to an impeccable source in the party, the APC national leadership had after a strategic meeting in the state resolved to go after Ohakim, who they consider a great electoral asset, which would further bolster the party’s image

in the state and the entire Sout-East region. The party leadership is said to have embraced the option, as it would attract a massive followership to it in Imo and the South-East and may ultimately drive the party’s victory in the forthcoming general election. The resolve of the APC, according to the source had stemmed from the crisis rocking

the five state chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the SouthEast, particularly Imo State, where the controversial governorship primary election had torn the party apart, with all moves to resolve the crisis hitting brick walls. The APC, is also said to be cashing in on the perceived failure of the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan to

deliver its 2015 Imo gubernatorial ticket to ex-governor Ohakim, as earlier agreed, on delivering the state to the PDP, in the 2011 presidential election. Another APC chieftain, who confirmed the development on conditions of anonymity said, “I am aware that some of our leaders at the national level are making frantic efforts to woo Ohakim,

into our great party. They strongly believed that the former governor was unjustly treated especially when very many Imo electorates had believed he was the best material for the 2015 governorship ticket having realized the level of malicious blackmail and fabrications against him which denied him a deserved second tenure in 2011.

Kalu sure of polls Igbeaku Orji UMUAHIA

head of the February general election, the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) candidate for Bende Federal constituency, Chief Ben Kalu, has expressed confidence that the 2015 election would be better than previous elections, especially the 2011 election, which he said witnessed the stealing of his mandate by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Kalu, who spoke in his country home in Bende, Bende Council Area, maintained that he was confident that the electoral reform introduced by INEC would help him recover the stolen mandate this time even as he reminded his supporters that he was still in the race. The former aide to Governor Theodore Orji on Projects and MDGs, said he has what it takes to represent Bende federal constituency in the House of Representatives. He said he was more qualified than all the other candidates jostling for the position. He stated that his commitment to the welfare of the people of Bende federal constituency was unwavering and would require their support to contribute his quota to the development of the area. The PPA candidate said the clamour for change would be realised if the people would rise up and work for it in the forthcoming election. “In 2011, I contested and won, but my mandate was stolen by PDP candidate through her Abuja connection. Things will not remain the same this year. I want to use this medium to appeal to the good people of Bende to vote and give me their mandate for effective representation in the Federal House,” Kalu said. “I assure that if given the mandate, I will transform Bende and make it better than what it is today under a woman legislator,” he said.

L-R: Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie; Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma; Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, at the MTNF EyeRIS commencement in Imo State…yesterday

Enugu Assembly gives nod to state poly Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

he Enugu State House of Assembly yesterday passed a bill upgrading the State College of Agriculture and Entrepreneurial Studies, Iwollo, to a fullfledged Polytechnic, saying the move was to expand the horizon for self employment opportunities for young persons in the state. Also yesterday, the State Assembly screened four nominees for appointment as commissioners by Governor Sullivan Chime to fill the void in the State’s Executive Council, following the resignations of some commissioners in pursuit of elective offices. Speaking on the passage of the bill on the upgrade of the College located in Ezeagu Local Government Area to a polytechnic, the Speaker of the legislature, Hon. Eugene Odo, explained that the new institution is expected to produce employable graduates

in the state. The commissionernominees, screened included Rita Mba, who held the position of Special Adviser to the Governor on Inter-Governmental Matters, Barrister Emmanuel Omeje, Dr. Barth Ezugwu, who was the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth and Sports and Mr. Godwin Udebe. Some of the commissioners to be replaced by the new nominees include former commissioner for Enugu Capital Territory, Mr. Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, now a House of Representatives candidate of PDP for the Nsukka/ Igbo Eze South federal constituency, and former Lands commissioner, Chukwuemeka Ujam, among others. The state legislators also during yesterday’s sitting began debate on the 2015 appropriation bill presented last year to the House and it passed through the second reading.

Ikoku: Onyeriri wasted four years Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

he Accord Party candidate for the Isu/Njaba/Nkwerre/ Nwangele federal constituency, in Imo State, Mr. Michael Ikoku, has described the House of Representatives member of the constituency Jones Onyeriri as ineffective. The last four years, according to Ikoku, can rightly be considered as wasted years as far as the impact of the Isu/Njaba/ Nkwerre/Nwangele fed-

eral constituency’s representative was concerned. Said he, “While other federal constituencies are repositioning to consolidate on the gains of the last four years, our representative, Hon. Jones Onyeriri is asking for another tenure to make amends. According to him, he would do better as a ranking member. But the truth is that if you could not reach and impact your Federal Constituency in four years, you cannot reach them in eight years. Four years is enough for anybody to

write his name in gold at the National Assembly but our representative could not propose a single bill in the last four years.” The reason is simple; he has no blueprint for the job and is largely unprepared to face the realities of representing our people.” According to Ikoku, people should not send a ‘dump’ person to the legislative chamber, where effectiveness and efficacy are the qualities that attract democracy dividends to the areas being represented.

‘Obasanjo has no electoral value’ Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Anambra State Chief Pius Ozoanekwe, has dismissed fears that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is constituting any threat to the second term ambition to President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that such position was erro-

neous, as even Obasanjo’s adoption of Jonathan would not matter, since he lacks the electoral value to attract votes in his ward in Ogun state. He stated that the recent political hobnobbing between Obasanjo and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly, the reception of its presidential candidate, General Mohamed Buhari, should not be viewed

as an anti-party activity, going by Obasanjo’s electoral value. He flayed Buhari’s interest to become an elected president, as he does not possess any democratic trait, no thanks to his childhood trainings and orientation as a military personnel, who only imbibed undemocratic values. He stated that it would be extremely difficult for him at 73 to embrace democratic tenents at his stage.

News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-SOUTH

We stand by our support for Buhari, says MEND Mojeed Alabi

he Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, has restated its support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari. The group also warned its members supporting President Goodluck Jonathan to retrace their steps within seven days or face consequences. The group, which insisted that the present administration has not

in any way impacted positively on the lives of the generality of the NigerDelta people but a select few, was reacting to the position of some members of the group, who it accused of throwing caution into the air by criticizing their support for the former head of state, and their support for the President. The organisation, in a statement issued yesterday and signed by its media officer, Jomo Gbomo, said the duo of Gen. Pastor Reuben Wilson and Gen. Paul Eris,

alias Ogunboss, had recently openly declared their support for the President without citing any cogent reason. The statement read in part; “We are aware that there are some bad eggs in our fold and these are people who are ready to eat today and sell their future because of the morsel of porridge they are getting from their benefactors. Among such people are Gen. Pastor Reuben Wilson and Gen. Paul Eris, alias Ogunboss, who recently went to the media to disgrace

themselves, claiming to be supporting Jonathan on sentimental grounds…Whatever peanuts they are getting today should not be the reason for them to sell their conscience in the name of supporting Goodluck against Buhari.” The group added that its decision to support Buhari was total and final, and threatened to launch “Hurricane No Return” campaign against the President in the next few days. “No matter what Goodluck must have

given them today, it cannot be compared to what the future has in stock for us, with Buhari. So, we have decided to stay on with Buhari because we know that with him, there will be a better Nigeria where corruption and insurgency will be a thing of the past. Our decision to support Buhari is total and final. That is what the likes of Gen Wilson and Gen Ogunboss should know. They can eat from Goodluck’s table for all we care. But they should also watch their back.”

Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, with Service Chiefs, at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony in Port Harvourt…yesterday

Uduaghan threatens contractors Dominic Adewole ASABA

elta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday threatened to blacklist contractors who are found wanting on their jobs. The contractors were yesterday seen running helter-skelter to be in the good books of the state government after the governor threatened to blacklist non-performing contractors who fail to put their acts together and deliver on their contracts. The governor, who since last year vowed to finish strong, said he was ready to deal with any contracting firm that wants to jeopardise his record of achievements. Governor Uduaghan, who summoned the contractors to the chamber of the Ministry of Works in Asaba yesterday, spoke through his Commissioner for Works, Hon. Funkekeme Solomon. While he urged the contractors, which include CCC Construction Company, Setraco, ULO Consultants and 24 others, to take advantage of the dry season and complete their jobs, he said he would spend the remaining four months of his administration to pay unscheduled visits to project sites.

‘Don’t politicise Ukpanah’s detention’

Imoke seeks stronger ties with Equatorial Guinea

ollowing recent calls by members of civil society organisations for the release of the detained son of late Chief Albert Ukpanah, Odudu, over his alleged involvement in the murder of his late father by security agencies, Governor Godswill Akpabio has cautioned against politicising the issue. Akpabio, who gave the advice at the inauguration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship campaign council in Uyo yesterday said: “It is not totally surprising that in an election year like this, politicians would use anything to condemn

Clement James

one another, just to score cheap political goals, adding, this trend could be seen in the sponsorship of some misguided individuals, claimed to be human rights groups by politicians.” He said what led to the arrest, detention and prosecution of Ukpanah was the inconsistencies in his actions on the death of his father, Late Albert Ukpanah. The governor said the late Ukpanah had visited him two days before he was murdered, to seek his support for the treatment of his wife, who, according to him, was having cancer and needed N4 million for chemotherapy.

He said moved with pity for the deceased, who he has not seen for a while before that Tuesday, he gave him (the deceased) N2 million and asked him to come back the following Thursday so that he would arrange for the woman to be flown abroad. He further said on hearing that the man was murdered; he was sad and he personally paid a condolence visit on the family where Odudu informed him that his late father, on the fateful day, had called him on phone to set three chairs outside for his expected visitors as he too was on his way back home.

Calabar

igeria and Equatorial Guinea have been urged to strengthen the relationship between them in order to foster better understanding of the two countries. Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke, made this appeal when the Equatorial Guinea Counsel General, Juan Manana Mbomio, presented his letter of credence to him in his office. According to Imoke, although there is a relationship between the two

countries, such should be strengthened and both countries should maximise the benefits inherent in the relationship. While wishing the Counsel General a wonderful stay in the state, Imoke urged him to explore the state and interact with the people to have firsthand knowledge of the state in particular, and the nation at large. He hoped that the two neighbours will continue to live in harmony and extend a hand of fellowship to one another. Governor Imoke, who promised to cooperate with the new Counsel

General, told his guest that the state was blessed with human and natural resources, and will extend the hospitality of the people to him. The governor also promised to visit Equatorial Guinea for the first time, saying the state was conducive for investors to take advantage of the serenity of the environment. Earlier, Mbomio, who was accompanied by his Deputy, Martina Ondo Nsang, said his visit to the governor was to enable him present the papers given to him by the President of Equatorial Guinea to assume office in Calabar.

power shift, because of the large population it commands. He said such position with regards to the governorship election, could be considered by other ethnic nationalities as ‘self-centered,’ which does not encourage unity.

Speaking further, he said the emergence of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, as the flag bearer of the PDP in the state is an indication that he is the candidate of the Delta people and not the candidate of Delta North senatorial district.

Ijaw queries UPU’s decision on Delta governorship Gabriel Choba Ughelli

ollowing the decision of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the apex body of the Urhobo nation to work against the Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) in the February governorship election in Delta State, the Ijaw nation in the state yesterday described the UPU as selfcentered. Speaking on behalf of Ijaw nation yesterday, Alawe Favour Ogbeyer-

ine-Izoukumor, gave the verdict in an open letter to UPU during a press briefing in Warri. According to him, the UPU leadership should rescind its position that Urhobo, who are the majority in the state, must produce

Uduaghan’s successor as such position is capable of igniting another round of ethnic crisis in the state. Izoukumor, who is also the spokesman of the Ogbe-Ijoh Council of Chiefs, said by their position, the UPU does not believe in

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

News 49

NORTH

Jonathan: Group accuses ministers, others of disloyality THINGS FALL APART

Things seem to be falling apart in Jonathan's Kano campaign as Ministers shun president's campaigns

Muhammad Kabir KANO

ll is seems not well within the camp of President Jonathan/ Sambo campaign orga-

nization in Kano, as the group ‘GoodLuck Support group Coordinators forum’, has accused Ministers as well as the State PDP gubernatorial candidate of refusing to identify with the Jonathan aspirations. The group at a press conference, said, ‘’We wish to avail Mr. President and especially the GoodLuck/Sambo presidential campaign organization and the general Public of the lackadaisical attitude of those charged with the

Buhari's campaign train hits Benue today Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

he All Progressives Congress presidential candidate in the February 14 general election, General Mohammadu Buhari, is expected to hit Makurdi, the Benue State capital today in continuation of his nationwide campaigns. Buhari, who is expected to be accompanied on the campaign rally by his running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would be received at the Makurdi Airport by the leadership of the party in the state led by Senate Minority Leader and leader of the party in the state, Senator George Akume. Also expected on his entourage is the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun, National Secretary, Alhaji Mai Mala Goni, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal amongst others.

New Telegraph gathered that while in the state, the presidential candidate of the APC, along stalwarts of the party, are expected to convene an all-encompassing stakeholders' meeting of the party, towards addressing crisis plaguing the party in the state, this would be followed by an address to all loyalists in the state. The party’s presidential candidate, would also present APC flags to candidates of the party for the Governorship, National and State Assembly candidates ahead of the general election. Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command has deployed 16 truck-load of policemen to secure the IBB square, venue of the campaign. The command’s spokesman, ASP John Bako, told the News Agency of Nigeria yesterday in Makurdi that the arrangement was in anticipation of the expected crowd at the venue.

FG donates relief materials to Baga terror victims Ahmed Miringa MAIDUGURI

n its efforts to bring succor to the victims of the insurgency attack in Baga, the Federal Government yesterday, presented trailers of relief items to victims of the attack in their camp in Maiduguri. Presenting the relief materials to the victims of Baga attack on behalf of the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sani Sidi, the North-East coordinator of the agency, Mohammed Kanar, said items include 600 bags of rice, 300 bags of Maize, 500 pieces of famale fabrics, 400 pieces of male wares and 1000 pieces of blan-

kets, among other items. The event, which took place at the Teachers' Village designated for the internally displaced persons in Maiduguri, housing an estimated 3200 displaced persons from Baga attack, was supervised by Kanar, who said, “These items are to meet the basic needs of the IDP’s from Baga town and to alleviate their sufferings” . Speaking on behalf of the IDPs, the Caretaker chairman of Kukawa Local Government, Musa Alhaji Bukar Kukawa, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the assistance, even as he noted that it is the government's responsibility to take care of the people, particularly in regard to their situation in present circumstance.

campaign in the state as their effort has fallen short of our expectations’’. The Chairman of the group, Abdulmuminu Yau Musa, said, ‘’It is a statement of fact that nothing is being done at the moment to booster the effort in the mobilization drive for the supporters for the reelection project with just about one month to go’. The group further observed that with the elections is coming closer the atmosphere within the state, has not shown any indication of the incumbent president running for election, as there are

no campaign billboards of Jonathan anywhere in the state, stating that there is also no sing of campaign structure on the ground for the Jonathan/Sambo campaign and awareness. They also noted, ‘There areno branded vehicle of Mr. President seen anywhere in the state, no candidate under the platform of PDP including our Governorship candidate has openly identified with the aspiration of Mr. President by putting his picture side by side with their own as been the trend’. ‘‘We can go on, but suf-

fice it that the ugly trend can be turn around if Mr. President act fast’, they warned. Abdulmuminu, explained that because of the disturbing situation and their belief that President Jonathan deserved better publicity with the existing President 120 groups established in the 2011. He noted that with the presidential election coming close, efforts are being made to bring the grioups under one platform, adding that right now they have mobilized about 1.5 million followers in the

last two years of their activities. ‘We wish to register our regrets that with the number of Federal projects brought to Kano and the lucrative appointments slots given to the of the State as well as other pecks, Mr. President deserve a better deal from his campaigners’. He continued, ‘It is also proper for us to reveal here that this non-challant attitude has began to tell on some of our members thereby making them vulnerable for poaching by the opposition, especially at this eleventh hour’.

L-R: Kwara State Deputy Governor, Elder Peter Kisira; the Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Senator Bukola Saraki; Princess Funke Adedoyin and Senator Sha'aba Lafiagi, during the campaign flag-off of the All Progressives Congress, in Ilorin…yesterday

Saraki to Jonathan: Where is N80bn terror victims’ fund? he All Progressives Congress Senator representing Kwara Central at the National Assembly, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan, to explain how the N80 billion Terror Victims’ Support fund, raised last year for victims of insurgency was utilized by his adminisration. Saraki, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology and a prominent member of the All

Progressives Congress (APC) said there was need for the Presidency to explain what happened to the fund which was raised by a committee headed by former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd). Donors to the funds included banks and captains of blue chips industries in the country. Although he expressed confidence in the credibility of Danjuma, saying being a man of great character and credibility who must have done his best in raising the fund, Saraki, in two separate tweets on his on his twitter handle, @Bukolas-

Ibraheem Musa

2015: Yero begins road repairs

Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN

KADUNA

arely one month to the general election, Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has flagged off the rehabilitation of the major roads that cuts across the Kaduna metropolis, with the aim of constructing the Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) lanes. Speaking during the

ceremony, the governor said that the first phase of the project, which stretches from Kawo Flyover to Lugard Hall Roundabout, has been awarded to Mothercat Ltd. at the contract sum of N3,685,260 ,596.68, adding that it will be completed within fifteen (15) months. Yero said the project became necessary because the present road does not

araki yesterday with the hashtag #FactcheckGEJ, asked Nigerians to rate the performance of the President Jonathan several months after assuring to put an end to violence in the country. It reads: “On Nov 11, 2014, GEJ said that he “will do everything humanly possible to end this violence. Rate his performance. What happened to N80 billion Terror Victims Support Fund raised in 2014? or is it N60 billion since they keep changing figures?” The Terror Support Fund for terror victims was intended to assist

meet with the increasing traffic volume within Kaduna City, adding that it, therefore, needs to be upgraded to meet existing traffic demands. According to him, the beautification and BRT lanes project will stretch from one end of Kaduna to the other, that is from Kawo to Command Junction. Speaking earlier, the

victims of the ongoing insurgency in the North East and other parts of the country by the Federal Government and was launched last year by President Goodluck Jonathan. The terms of reference for the committee include to identify sources and ways of raising sustainable funding to support victims of Boko Haram terror activities; to develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising and to ascertain the persons, communities, facilities and economic assets affected by Boko Haram terror activities.

Kaduna State Commissioner of Works and Transport, Alhaji Bashir Idris Aliyu said Phase 1 of the project is from Kawo to Lugard Hall Roundabout while Phase 2 will cover from Lugard Roundabout to Station Roundabout . The final phase of the project will be from Station Roundabout to Command Junction.

News

ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE DAY

Woman soldier slumps on parade in Ibadan Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

here was pandemonium among soldiers and politicians yesterday in Ibadan, when a female soldier on parade collapsed at the Remembrance Arcade in front of Government House, Agodi, Ibadan. It was at the 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebrations in Oyo State, where Governor Abiola Ajimobi and other government functionaries were in attendance. The soldier and her colleagues had stood on parade at the arcade

since 6.00am, awaiting the governor to arrive and kick-start the programme, which eventually started at about 11.00am. New Telegraph gathered that the soldier, who suddenly lost consciousness and fell, hit her head against a hard object before she was carried out of the stage by her colleagues. Fortunately, the gun she was carrying did not trigger off. To protect the image of the army, journalists were briskly prevented from taking pictures of the incident. However, Government House doctors gave her urgent medical attention

and she was revived, but what caused the fall could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report. Governor Ajimobi had led other top government functionaries, including the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu and other eminent Nigerians to lay wreaths at the arcade in remembrance of the country’s falling heroes. The Chairman of the Nigerian Legion in Oyo State, Pastor Michael Olagunju, appealed to the Federal Government to pay ex-service men the arrears of 37 per cent increment on their pensions.

WORLD | News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Pope: There are limits to free speech

ope Francis yesterday condemned killing in God’s name but warned religion could not be insulted, weighing into a global debate on free speech ahead of a rapturous welcome in the Philippines. The pontiff made the comments to reporters as he flew from Sri Lanka to begin a five-day visit in the Catholic Church’s Asian stronghold that is tipped to attract a worldrecord papal crowd. “To kill in the name of God is an absurdity,” Francis said when asked

about last week’s assault by Islamist gunmen on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which 12 people died. But the 78-year-old pontiff also said “each religion has its dignity” and “there are limits”. “If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched, and that’s normal. You cannot provoke, you cannot insult other people’s faith, you cannot mock it,” he said. Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office on January 7, killing

some of France’s most loved satirical cartoonists in their outrage over the magazine’s repeated depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. The assault was followed two days later by an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris by a gunman claiming to have coordinated his actions with the brothers. In all, 17 people died over three days in the bloodiest attacks in France in half a century, sparking a global debate on the limits of free speech.

Aliyu: Give the military financial autonomy Dan Atori MINNA

he Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday called for financial autonomy for the military if the country is desirous of addressing the issue of equipping the army and other armed forces. He said such autonomy will translate into availability of funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the forces. Aliyu spoke after attending and laying

wreath at the 123 Military Cenotaphs as part of activities marking this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Minna. He said the country can run into problems if members of the armed forces are not well taken care of. According to Aliyu, “The military should be placed on first line charge in the disbursement of money from the Federation Account; all this call for financial autonomy should also affect the military. “Nigeria is the largest and most populous

nation in Africa, which requires a very strong and well equipped army. “The country should adequately take care of its officers and men, because when they are not well taken care of and equipped, the country can run into problems. “Government at all levels must come to terms that the armed forces is a very important institution in the country, we should show reference to those who one way or the other have sacrificed their lives for the unity of the country.”

Pray for the souls of fallen heroes, says Yuguda Yuzarsif Alhassan Bauchi

he 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day was yesterday held in a colorfully ceremony in Bauchi State. The ceremony, attended by Governor Isa Yuguda, the Commandant of the 33 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier James Myama, the Nigerian Legion and other officers and men of the Nigerian Army with a view to celebrate and remember fallen heroes in the state and around the country. Speaking in an inter-

view with newsmen shortly after the laying of wreath, Governor Yuguda said: “What our fallen heroes deserves most is prayers, we should pray for their souls and to God to grant them peace where they are and may Him grant the fallen heroes paradise in the hereafter.” “We should also try as much as possible to lend support to their dependents, those who they left behind, as I believed they would have fallen in the cause of protecting our country and its people. The governor, however,

headed to the 33 Artillery Brigade in Bauchi, where he commissioned Army Brigade headquarter complex in his remembrance activities as arranged by the Commandant, Brigadier-General James Myama. Shortly after the commissioning of the complex, the governor was also invited by the army for refreshment. He used the interactive session organised by the commandant to urge the soldiers to serve their country in whatever capacity they found themselves.

Al-Makura commends fallen heroes Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

asarawa State governor, Tanko Al-Makura, has commended security agencies for paying the supreme sacrifice in their service to the nation and in ensuring the sovereignty of the nation. Al-Makura said more

than any time in the history of this country, the need for selfless service, protection of the sanctity and the territorial integrity of Nigerian’s sovereignty is now. He spoke at the wreaths laying ceremony to mark this year’s armed forces remembrance day at the Government House, Lafia the state capital.

He said: “We have for each and every one of us a responsibility to ensure the oneness, indivisibility, peace, order and discipline that this country so much desires, especially at this point in time when in the next one month we are likely to embark on an exercise that will add value to our democracy and to our unity as a people.”

Pope Francis waving to Filipino Catholics as his motorcade passes by in Manila yesterday.

Mozambique opposition boycotts swearing-in of new president

o zambique’s new President Filipe Nyusi was sworn into office yesterday in a ceremony boycotted by the main opposition party, which has rejected the results of October’s elections. Nyusi’s inauguration extended the ruling Frelimo party’s nearly 40-year hold on power since the southern African nation won independence from Portugal. “This takeover of power is illegal,” Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama was quoted by Lusa news agency as saying ahead of the ceremony, which was

attended by regional leaders and Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva. Dhlakama, a former rebel leader who claims the elections were fraudulent, boycotted the opening of parliament Monday and has threatened to form a parallel government in parts of the gas-rich country. Nyusi, 55, took the oath of office before symbolically exchanging seats with outgoing president Armando Guebuza. He pledged “to open constructive dialogue with all political forces and civil society organisations to promote peace” in a country ravaged by a brutal 16-year

civil war that ended in 1992. “I represent a new generation, a generation that inherits huge success and exciting challenges,” he said. The former defence minister is Mozambique’s first president to not have fought in the liberation war against colonial power Portugal and holds no top position in the nominally Marxist-Leninist Frelimo party.An engineer by profession, Nyusi took 57 percent of the vote in the election -- a sharp drop from the 75 percent of votes won by Guebuza in the previous presidential election in 2009.

Hollande reassures Muslims, demands respect for French values

resident Francois Hollande assured Muslims in France and abroad yesterday that his country respected them and their religion but would not compromise its commitment to freedom and democracy. Speaking a week after three days of Islamist militant violence that killed 17 people in Paris, he told a meeting at the Institute of the Arab World in Paris that Muslims

were “the first victims of fanaticism, fundamentalism and intolerance”. His speech struck a careful balance between France’s commitment to protect its five-million-strong Muslim minority, Europe’s largest, and to uphold the principle of free speech even for caricatures that Muslims find offensive. French Muslims have reported dozens of attacks on mosques since Islamist gunmen targeted satirical

journal Charlie Hebdo last week. Authorities in several Middle East countries have denounced the newspaper’s decision to print more cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in its first post-attack edition Wednesday. “Islam is compatible with democracy and we should refuse any confusion (about this),” Hollande said at the Institute, where the slogan “We are all Charlie” was written in French and Arabic on the building’s facade.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Sports News

International Sport

Emenike clashes with Alves at training ground

AFCON 2015

Ronaldo ponders comeback with US club

Stars missing in action

Sport

Did you know? That Frank Lampard has 161 goals from midfield – an unbelievable amount for a non-striker

Quadri has restored table tennis glory, says Oshonaike

Ajibade Olusesan

oremost table tennis player, Funke Oshonaike, has said that 2014 International Table Tennis Federation Player of the Year, Aruna Quadri, has restored the lost glory of the game not only in Nigeria but in Africa as whole. The German-based four-time Olympian said she was not really surprised by the successes recorded by Quadri, but said that

Oshonaike

the world’s 30th ranked player needs support to remain on top of his game. “I am sure that the world now knows that Nigeria is a force to reckon with in table tennis. The feat of Quadri has vindicated us that with support, table tennis can bring more glory to Nigeria. For me, Quadri is a hardworking player who plays the game with passion and that is what every player needs to succeed.

“He spent his time and resources to improve and the result has been coming. I knew that he (Quadri) would become a great player but I never expected it to come so soon because since I have been playing for more than two decades, no African player has made it to the top 30 in the world. This is indeed historic for the whole continent and we should indeed support him because he still has the ability to make it to the top 10

Warri Wolves stop Egwuekwe

l Reject West Ham’s bid l Russian clubs, Birmingham City keep tabs Emmanuel Tobi

igeria Premier League side, Warri Wolves, have rejected a bid from English club, West Ham, for Super Eagles defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, following a breakdown in negotiations with the agent handling the transfer. Egwuekwe has been attracting interests from across Europe but Wolves are out to get as much as they can get for the Super Eagles regular. A top management source informed New Telegraph on Thursday that Wolves are studying all the offers at their disposal before coming out with an official statement on the player. “We have five concrete offers for

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sports

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sports Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sports Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sports Correspondent

Egwuekwe. Two from Russia, and one each from West Ham and Birmingham City but we have rejected the bid from West Ham because of the terms offered by the agent who brought the deal,” the source revealed. The source added: “We decided not to register him for the new season and the CAF Confederations Cup because of the concrete offers at our disposal.” West Ham expects Winston Reid to leave the club once his contract expires in the summer and are keen to complete a deal for Egwuekwe during the January transfer window. But the club official added that the Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick, and the club’s official agent, Emmanuel Ibru, alongside the player, will decide his final destination. “Our chairman (Pinnick) is very conscious of the tricks of football agents and together with Emmanuel Ibru will sort out Egwuekwe’s future before the end of January,” continued the source, before adding: “The club will make an official statement as regards his final destination soon.” Capped 33 times so far for Nigeria, the six-foot-five Egwuekwe has attracted the attention of English clubs due to Nigeria’s failure to

qualify for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations which makes the defender available for the duration of the AFCON. The 25-year-old recently admitted he has had plenty of offers and will be leaving Warri Wolves. “Offers are coming from overseas. I have an offer from an EPL club, the English Championship and from Russia. I am still a Warri Wolves player, but at the end of this month, I hope to say bye-bye to Warri Wolves,” Egwueke enthused.

We decided not to register him for the new season and the CAF Confederations Cup because of the concrete offers at our disposal

Egwuekwe (right)

in the world,” she said. The former Africa table tennis queen believes it is high time that the government paid attention to table tennis. “What football could not achieve table tennis has done and this must give them the opportunity to support the game. We are indeed very happy with this and we hope that other players will be supported alongside Quadri to continue to shine,” Oshonaike said.

SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Emem’s transfer saga and the ugly side of Nigerian football

igerian football is no stranger to controversies. Year in year out, it’s one scandal or the other. It is a paradox therefore that these shadowy deals are aided within what ordinarily is a transparent “Glasshouse.” The irony is that a nation once known for its high administrative capacity in football has got it wrong in many respects - in recent times – fumbling even in rudimentary issues. It is a thing of shame noting that the majority of top administrators Africa parades today had their tutelage in Nigeria. That was during the era of Patrick Okpomo, Oyo Orok Oyo, P. O. C Achebe, all of blessed memory, and a host of others. The current and longest serving Confederation of African Football, CAF, President, Issah Hayatou of Cameroun, Danny Jordan of South Africa, all cut their teeth in Nigeria in terms of modern football administration. That was probably when the men in the helm of affairs were well grounded in the rules and regulations of both CAF and FIFA. The nation was seldom found wanting when it came to application and interpretation of rules. In fact, some of the colossus and legendary soccer aficionados we had then were regularly consulted by both continental and global football bodies before critical decisions were taken. How we got it wrong having started so well has remained a source of worry to me. The

nation is blessed with abundant talents and knowledgeable people who are in good position to put their wealth of experience at the disposal of the nation when properly approached. Unfortunately, the cat and mouse fight and mutual suspicion among NFF comrades have whittled their capacity to make quality decisions let alone consulting widely. The latest blunder is the double transfer saga the nation’s promising star, Emem Eduok, has been exposed to. Here is a player who plies his trade with Dolphins Football Club of Port Harcourt, a local league club side that produced the player, that can compete favourably with the best of the foreign-based in the national team on a good day, being reduced to nothing. The entire saga has exposed the obvious ineptitude inherent in the system. For the management of this club to have failed in the basic principle of international transfer exposes their inefficiency and incompetence. Available infor mation points to the fact that the player signed for both Esperance of Tunisia and Salspborg 08 of Norway simultaneously, while those who should know are claiming ignorance. Money was collected from both sides in clear breach of FIFA rules, thereby exposing the nation to ridicule before the world. The natural question to ask is where were his club and the NFF in all of this, since no transfer can be complete without the consent of the

Around the Stadia

joebooster391@yahoo.com

07039241156 (sms only)

The panel set up by the Federation has not been able to look beneath the surface to expose these die-hard felons who compromise the integrity of the football body

Federation? There is no gain saying the fact that sordid deals had been perpetrated in time past by some untouchables in the Federation, and they got away with it, having been shielded from the full weight of the law, simply because of who they knew. The rev-

JOE BOOSTER

enue lost by issuing transfer certificates to people, by these untouchables without following accepted procedures is better imagined. It is on record that they indulge in this with active connivance of club officials. Perhaps they may claim to be ignorant of the rules, but the fact is that the Federation has completely lost the issue of accountability when it comes to recording and declaring the proceeds of their returns on transfer of players. It would be recalled that in the days of Sani Ahmed Toro as Secretary General of the then Nigerian Football Association (NFA), monthly and yearly returns on the number of players and the amount realised were declared for the sake of accountability. The International Transfer Certificate, otherwise known as (ITC) was closely guarded to avoid pirated copies being circulated. This made the words from the federation their bond. From the unfolding scenario, it is obvious that there is an in-house collaborator in the entire scandal, and the major culprit is in the ‘Glasshouse.’ Good a thing the Presi-

dent of the Federation has taken steps aimed at addressing the issue when he temporarily withdrew the player from the national team camp, only to reinstate him some days later leaves much to be desired. I believe it’s not enough. Further steps must be taken to expose the cabal and exorcise them from the football house for good. The panel set up by the Federation has not been able to look beneath the surface to expose these die-hard felons who compromise the integrity of the football body. They only succeeded in doing a shoddy job, since their verdict was not detailed enough nor did it address the substance of the issue involved. I had thought that this would have been an ample opportunity for Mr. Amaju Pinnick, to write his name in gold, if he had decided to tackle the scourge headlong and save Nigerian football from these bleeding vampires. This would have sent out a good signal that he is prepared to take on corruption during him reign at the Glass House. My only concern is that apart from the Glasshouse collaborators, just a few club owners could be exempted from this players’ transfer racket. Whatever is right surely should be done in this case to unmask these profiteers so as to send a strong signal to other would-be accomplices. In doing this however, Emem’s career must be protected. This is an emerging star that must not be allowed to set before it shines.

Arsenal wanted me to play for England –Iwobi

NFF directs state associations to hold elections

ream Team VI invitee, Alex Iwobi has revealed that his English club, Arsenal wanted him to choose England ahead of Nigeria, but has opted to play for Nigeria. The Arsenal U21 captain arrived the Nigeria U23 camp on Wednesday and has already expressed excitement at being with the team. “They (Arsenal) want me to focus on England but they wanted me to try out Nigeria also and see what will come up this week. “It’s my country and I have to work hard to take this chance and I have to show that I can represent the home land,” he told sl10.ng. The 18-year old already has a professional contract with the Gunners and has been featured on the bench severally for the first team, but is yet to make his full debut for the former English champions. And despite preferring to play for Nigeria over England, and despite training with the Nigerian U23 team at the moment, it is highly unlikely that he will be available for Nigeria’s 2015 All Africa Games qualifier against Gabon on February 20, as he’s expected back in London in the next few days.

he Nigeria Football Federation on Wednesday directed all its 36 states affiliates and the Federal Capital Territory to conduct elections into the executive committees of the football associations. This is contained in a memo signed by the General-Secretary to the board of the federation, Musa Amadu. It said the federation had already reached out to the associations in the various states and the FCT over the directive.

Iwobi (right)

“Associations are to forward their electoral guidelines and codes to the federation as well as the membership of their electoral committees,’’ it said. The NFF added that a number of states had already complied with the directive, while a few had yet to carry out the directive. The states have between Feb. 15 and Feb. 28 to conclude their elections, the football body said.

Emenike clashes with Alves at training ground

uper Eagles striker Emmanuel Emenike was involved in a training ground row with Fenerbahce team-mate Bruno Alves. According to Fanatik, the pair clashed during a training session of The Yellow Canaries’ on Wednesday January 14, 2015.

Some sources at the club played down the clash, saying it was the kind of incident that happens throughout the course of a season and it took the intervention of team manager Ismail Kartal for peace to reign. The two inter nationals had to be separated into dif-

ferent training groups. The pair have not been punished by the club. Emenike has been constantly linked with a move t o t h e E n g l i s h P re m i e r L e a g ue with Tottenham Hotspurs, Chelsea and Liverpool both tracking his progress.

Amadu

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 53

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Ronaldo ponders comeback with US club

ormer Real Madrid and Brazil striker Ronaldo has claimed he could return to the pitch this year, after becoming part-owner of NASL club Fort Lauderdale Strikers, four years after hanging up his boots. The 1994 and 2002 World Cup winner was unveiled as a new member of the Strikers’

ownership group on Wednesday, with reports in Brazil claiming he has purchased 10 per cent of the club that plays in the United States’ secondtier National American Soccer League. While the 38-year-old has not played professionally since 2011, he revealed he wants to start training again

Transfer News Bayern reject United’s £45m Muller bid

ayernMunichhavereportedlyturneddown B a £45m bid from Manchester United for GermanWorldCupwinnerThomasMuller.

Reports emerged this week claiming that Louis van Gaal is keen to reunite with the 25-year-old, who worked under the Dutchman in 2009. TheforwardwaslinkedwiththePremier Leaguegiantslastsummer,butoptedtostay at the Allianz Arena after helping Germany to World Cup glory in Brazil. According to The Express, United have opted to test the waters again with a big-money offer, but Bayern boss Pep Guardiola is determined to keep hold of Muller.

in the hope he might be able to pull on Fort Lauderdale’s red-and-yellow shirt in the 2015 season. “I will try to play some games,” he told Sports Illustrated’s website. “This year I want to train a lot. “The last three years I didn’t because I was too busy in other stuff…maybe if we get to the final and I’m feeling good, why not? I will put my name in the NASL as an option.” Ronaldo played 127 league games for Real Madrid as part of their famous ‘Galacticos’ era, winning La Liga in 2002-03.

City join race to sign Messi

anchester City manager Manuel M Pellegrini would reportedly be open to signing Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in a

Sturridge back in training aniel Sturridge has returned to trainD ing with Liverpool but boss Brendan Rodgers admits he is some way short of

Ronaldo

match fitness. The England striker has been out of action with a thigh injury since August and spent part of his recuperation time in America with the Boston Red Sox over Christmas. “Daniel Sturridge is back and working well but obviously not ready to play as of yet,” said Rodgers. “But he is working well and hopefully in the near future he’ll be ready. “Time will tell (when he can return). We just want him fit and there is no timeline on that. He is working hard and he’s back into the final stages of his rehab here at the club.”

ational U-23 men’s football team coach, Samson Siasia, has praised the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation for helping organising top grade matches while expressing the team’s readiness to play against Tunisia and other teams in the Super Six tournament billed for Abuja. The Dream Team will play their first game against Tunisia on January 24 and then again on January 28 before they return to the country the next day. They will also take part in an invitational tournament with

Arsenal agree fee for Schneiderlin

rsenal have an agreement in place to sign Southampton midfielder MorA gan Schneiderlin, as reported by the

Express. The French international has been hot property since last summer and has recently been linked with a move to Manchester United, with Louis Van Gaal making him his top transfer target. But it is now being reported that Arsenal already have an agreement in place to sign Schneiderlin for a fee in the region of £25million.

Chukwumerije tasks taekwondo athletes

U-23 Eagles ready for Tunisia, Super 6 tourney—Siasia Emmanuel Tobi

deal worth £480m. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has been linked with a move away from Camp Nou, having claimed that he “does not know” where his future lies. Chelsea have previously been tipped with a £200m transfer for the Argentina international, although The Sun suggests that Man City could now also be in the race to sign the prolific forward. When asked about his side’s rumoured interest in Messi, Pellegrini refused to play down speculation, saying: “It’s normal we are linked with the best players in the market.”

OlaideOlayinka

the Flying Eagles U20 team and Siasia added that the games the four clubs that will represent will help select the players for the Nigeria in this year’s CAF com- forthcoming All Africa Games petitions – Kano Pillars, Enyim- and 2016 Olympic Games qualiba, Warri Wolves and Dolphins. fiers. “We have been waiting for opportunities like these to help us differentiate the boys from the men, and these games - the Tunisia international friendlies and the Super 6 - will give us that opportunity to do just that,” he said. “Time is not our friend, so any opportunity we have will be adequately utilised for us to get a quality team for the country. Like I always say, building a team from the scratch is work in Siasia progress.”

eijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije, has charged taekwondo athletes across the country to consolidate of the successes recorded in 2014. The Commonwealth Championship silver medalist added that with unity in the taekwondo fraternity, more successes would be recorded in 2015. “I want to extend appreciation to the athletes, who are my colleagues and friends. You are the reason the Nigeria TaekwondoFederationexists,

and I thank you for all your hard work and dedication. It has been a tough 2014, and I hope we continue to work very hard to make 2015 even more memorable,” he said. He however, tasked the athletes not to relent in their efforts. “On this note, I would like to challenge each and every one of us to continue to develop ourselves, and aspire to take the sport to a better place than we met it. On a personal note, I wish you all the best in your individual endeavours and hope your personal ambitions, hope and dreams comes to a positive conclusion in 2015,” he said.

gets Feb 3 date ITF Circuit 2nd Leg: Eight Nigerians for semifinals Multi-Sports pre-season tourney the eight-team tourney are de-

fter emerging the overall winner of the first leg, which was concluded on Wednesday, Nigeria stepped up the gear for what promises to be another memorable campaign in the ongoing 2015 ITF West and Central African Junior Circuit in Togo with no fewer than eight of the country’s players bagging passage to the semifinals as the second leg of the tournament served off on Thursday. In the boy’s U-16 category, Nigeria’s Michael Oshewa recorded a 6-4,6-4 win over Robert Ochili of

Benin to book a place in the semifinal where he is joined by his compatriot, Ayoola Michael who overpowered Alitto Charles of Ghana 6-4, 6-1. Martins Abamu, who lost to Togo’s Anthony Gabdoe in the final of the first leg, returned to winning form as he defeated Amadou Diarra of Mali 6-2, 6-3 while his younger brother, Mathew continued to be the player to beat in the boys U-14 category following his capture of the gold in the first leg as he also earned a place in the last-four by beating Michael Dosso of Benin Republic 6-3, 6-3.

Por t Harcour t-based Godsgift Timibra also kept the Nigerian flag high among the nine countries that are featuring in the points-winning tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Abdulahi Balyomo of Cote d’Ivoire. In the girls’ U-16, Adetunji Adetayo and Angel McCleod respectively defeated Patricia Nyako of Ghana and Bisola Lassisis of Benin Republic 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2 while Barakat Quadri also won against Modinat Dogbe of Togo 6-0, 6-1 in the girls’ U-14. Nigeria emerged overall champions of the first leg with four gold and one silver.

Charles Ogundiya

he third edition of the annual pre-season football tournament organised by Lagos-based outfit, Multi-Sports International, has been scheduled for February 3 in Ibadan. The previous editions all took place in Lagos but, according to the organisers, was moved to Ibadan owing to the serene nature of the Oyo state capital. Some Nigeria Professional Football League sides have indicated their interest to be part of this year’s competition holding at the Lekan Salami Stadium, from February 3 to 7. Among the clubs that have shown interest in competing in

fending champions Sharks of Port Harcourt and their sister club, 2013 winners Dolphins. Others are Warri Wolves, Enugu Rangers and newly promoted NPFL side, 3SC of Ibadan. Speaking with our correspondent, the co-ordinator of the tournament, John Tata, said the remaining three clubs would be revealed soon. “We are already in advanced discussion with clubs like Heartland, Gabros, El-Kanemi Warriors, Insurance, Wikki Tourists, First Bank and Yobo FC, and immediately we reach a compromise, the other clubs taking part in the competition will be disclosed,” he said.

SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

COUNTDOWN TO 2015 AFCON

Stars missing in action

Senso Meyiwa (South Africa) Meyiwa would have been the first choice for South Africa in Equatorial Guinea if death had not snatched him away. The goalie had already established himself as Bafana Bafana’s number one and the captain of the rejuvenated side before he was shot dead by a yet to be identified assailant.

All eyes will be on Equatorial Guinea as the 2015 Africa Nations Cup kicks off tomorrow. The showpiece is where African players are expected to display their talents but some top stars will be missing in action due to injury, death or failure of their countries to qualify for the tournament. AJIBADE OLUSESAN in this piece highlights some of these stars and the reasons for their absences.

Kenneth Omeruo (Nigeria) The Nigerian youngster emerged as one of the revelations of the last tournament in South Africa following stellar performance for Nigeria as the West African country claimed their third title. The Chelsea defender who is on loan at Middlesbrough will be missing in action in Equatorial Guinea because the defending champions failed to make it to the tournament. Chris Katongo (Zambia) Katongo was an inspirational captain for Zambia as Chippolopolo won the tournament in 2012 when 2015 hosts, Equatorial Guinea co-hosted with Gabon but he will not be leading the team out as they return to Malabo. The veteran was overlooked by Coach Honour Janza as the tactician depends on young players for the tournament. Issam Jamaa (Tunisia) Jamaa is a veteran of five AFCON tournaments and has racked up 80 caps for Tunisia but he was surprisingly omitted by coach Georges Leekan from the 2015 party. Mohammed Salah (Egypt) He was tipped as the next big thing in African football after securing a move to Chelsea but Africa will miss his talent when the AFCON gets underway in Equatorial Guinea because his country and the most successful side in AFCON history Egypt failed to qualify for the tournament. Didier Drogba (Cote d’Ivoire) This will be the first time since the 2002 edition of the AFCON that Chelsea legend, Drogba, will not play at the football showpiece. He appeared in six editions and was the captain of Ivory Coast‘s ‘Golden Generation’ but he announced his international retirement shortly after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The continent will miss his physical strength, scoring ability and aerial prowess in Equatorial Guinea. Victor Wanyama (Kenya) The Southampton midfielder is one of the finest African players in the English Premier League but he will not be travelling to Equatorial Guinea for the championship after his country, Kenya, failed to qualify for the tournament. Harambee Stars crashed out of the qualifying series in the first round. Mikel Obi (Nigeria) He was arguably the best midfielder at the last edition. He emerged Most Valuable Player in four of Nigeria’s seven matches as the West African country lifted their third title. He is in good form for Chelsea and will remain with them this January as Nigeria failed to make the cut. Alex Song (Cameroun) The West Ham midfielder was overlooked during the qualifiers but after a run of excellent performances for West Ham, the former Arsenal player was tipped for a place in the Lions squad to Equatorial Guinea. However, coach Volker Finke surprisingly omitted him from his team to the tournament. The former Barcelona midfielder has consequently announced

his retirement from international football. Emmanuel Emenike (Nigeria) He is another Nigerian with an excellent showing at the last edition. He scored five goals to help his country win the title in South Africa but he has no chance to repeat that feat because Nigeria failed to make it to the tournament. The Fernabahce striker did not score a goal as the Super Eagles could not make it out of Group A of the AFCON qualifiers. Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana) He has been the engine room of the Black Stars for some years now and he was poised for another outing in Equatorial Guinea before injury robbed him of the opportunity. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) The Tottenham striker could not help Togo as the Hawks finished bottom in their AFCON qualifying group and failed to pick the ticket to the championship. The lanky striker will surely be missed in Equatorial Guinea.

Egypt The Pharaohs are the most successful African country at the tournament after winning seven titles but they have not qualified since they won the tournament in 2010. They will also not be in action this time. Nigeria The Super Eagles will not be on parade to de-

Top countries missing fend the title they won two years ago in South Africa after Nigeria finished third in their group.

of African Football has consequently banned them from two editions of the tournament.

Morocco The Atlas Lions will not play in this edition and the next one after Morocco withdrew as the hosts of the 2015 edition. They cited the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in Africa as the reason for their action and Confederation

Togo The Hawks became noticeable in African football after they qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup; they were at the last edition of AFCON but will not feature this time.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

And Mr. President visited Maiduguri Vantage

Point

EMEKA MADUNAGU emeka.madunagu@newtelegraphonline.com

inally, President Goodluck Jonathan visited Maiduguri, one of the areas badly scarred by Boko Haram insurgents. It was welcome, no doubt, even though it was belated. Well, like it is said, it was better late than never. At least, Mr. President showed that there is a limit to politics when human lives are involved. It was even more salutary that he took the trip on a significant day – Nigeria’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day. It was also an affirmation of the fact that the people of Borno State are as Nigerian as people in the President’s Otuoke village in Bayelsa State. They are as human as the big and small people in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other parts of the country. For Mr. President to have chosen the Armed Forces Remembrance Day for the trip showed that he had not lost sight of the huge sacrifices being paid by the gallant men and women of the Nigerian military. The body count has become so frightening that I often wonder how many officers and soldiers are remaining in the Nigerian armed forces. It’s a tough call for the Nigerian military – fighting a guerrilla group which observes no form of decency or decorum. The Islamist group has not even spared fellow Muslims in its brutal campaign. It currently controls a number of local government areas in Borno State and has all but brought normal life to a halt in the once vibrant state. The situation is so pathetic that the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, sheds tears anytime discourse veers in the direction of the plight of the citizens of the state. The people of Borno State like their compatriots in Yobe and Adamawa as well as many other states that have

tasted Boko Haram’s brutality live in fear daily. For them, it is not an easy life. Last year, when the governor raised the alarm that Boko Haram had become more daring in its exploits, President Jonathan turned the matter into a political squabble. On a presidential media chat, Jonathan uttered some shocking words: “The statement is a little bit unfortunate because you don’t expect a governor to make that kind of statement. if the governor of Borno State feels that the Nigerian Armed Forces are not useful, he should tell Nigerians. I will pull them out for one month; whether he will stay in that his Government House; just one month, but I will fly back to take over the state. But if what he said is correct, I will pull out the military from Borno State for one month and I will go back and take over the state. A governor should be mindful of what he says. Yes, there are issues. No matter how frustrated you are, you don’t make this kind of statement.” I was taken aback by this statement because it showed that Mr. President didn’t give thought, for one moment, to the fact that Shettima was not the only resident of the state. Between February 2014 when he made this statement and yesterday when he visited the state, Boko Haram has taken over a number of local government areas in the state. The President has not been able to take them back. Hopefully, his visit to Borno will lead to a taking back of the territories from Boko Haram and not a takeover of the state by Aso Rock. The governor’s claim that Boko Haram appeared to be better equipped than the Nigerian military was eventually corroborated by reports of the poor state of equipment provided to our gallant soldiers. The series of court-martials

President Goodluck Jonathan, during his visit to the Internally Displaced People’s camp in Maiduguri, Borno State…yesterday

Mr. President must also come out and tell Nigerians what really made Chad and Cameroon to pull out of the Multinational Joint Task Force, after the recent attack on Baga that have occurred in the intervening period also confirmed the governor’s claims. One had expected the governor’s claim to provoke Aso Rock into doing a thorough assessment of the state of the war and making concerted efforts to redress any perceived problems. Rather, it was all about grandstanding and claiming that all was well. Cable News Network just conducted some interviews with some unidentified Nigerian soldiers and they alleged that they were given dane guns to fight Boko Haram. They also complained about low morale and lack of adequate equipment to tackle the insurgents. Thankfully, over the last few months, there has been a rejigging of the strategy used in fighting the insurgents, given Aso Rock’s purchase of military hardware. It is also noteworthy that Abuja has moved fast to acquire attack helicopters, in order to strengthen the aerial component of the war. I hope the right people will be given these hardware to handle so that we don’t return to square one fast. We can’t afford to sustain the war much longer because it is draining our national resources and consuming the lives of Nigerians. It is also taking a huge toll on our fragile economy. I hope Mr. President and the governor had a frank talk about the state of the insurgency. This is beyond politics. Every effort must be made, across party lines, to end this war as quickly as possible. It’s almost one year since the Chibok girls were kidnapped by the insurgents. Since then, the insurgents have seized many more people, not to talk of the lives and properties consumed. The people demand protection from their leaders. Mr. President must demonstrate that he is the father of the nation and that all Nigerians deserve to be protected by his administration. It is no longer acceptable for him to blame phantom enemies and interests for the lingering war. If there are such people, they must be exposed and brought to book (pardon the cliché). Mr. President must also come out and tell Nigerians what really made Chad and Cameroon to pull out of the Multinational Joint Task Force, after the recent attack on Baga. A report in the Chadian media some days ago indicated that troops from both nations pulled out of the MJTF because they felt that Nigeria was not honestly and resolutely committed to ending the insurgency. I find that hard to believe. There must be more to it than meets the eye. How come Jonathan and the leaders of Chad, Cameroon and Niger met with French President Francois Hollande sometime last year in Paris, where they agreed to jointly put down the menace and few months later, no concrete action has been taken? Instead, Boko Haram has gone to the extent of threatening to inflict much more pain on Cameroon for

depleting its rank and file. This forced Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, to call for international help. It’s not as if the world doesn’t know that the Boko Haram menace needs to be confronted with a coordinated international effort. It’s just that Nigerians have not been told the truth about why leading Western nations refused to sell weapons to Nigeria. We have also not been told why the war is lingering. Forget the noise being made by Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye. An envoy of his standing should do his best to sustain the bridges of understanding between his home government and host nation, not making statements capable of destroying their mutual ties. Adefuye has not come clean on what is stalling military cooperation between Nigeria and the United States. Same for U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle. Another matter is the call in some quarters that Aso Rock should deploy more technology and fewer men in the fight against the sect. The truth has yet to be told about why Nigeria’s attempts to procure drones from some foreign nations some years ago failed. The Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau, was linked to one of the attempts while he was the National Security Adviser. I believe Nigeria would have recorded immense success against Boko Haram if drones were deployed in the aerial battle. Drones have greatly assisted in global warfare and ours cannot be a different case. Intelligence must also be stepped up so that sources of financing for the sect are cut off as quickly as possible. It is salutary that President Jonathan sent his Principal Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur, on Wednesday to Ndjamena to meet with Chadian President, Idris Deby. Deby also met with Cameroon’s Minister of Defence, Mebe Ngo’o. It was not surprising that Deby gave a resolute commitment to Tukur and Ngo’o that his government would assist in the fight against Boko Haram. If Chad goes ahead to match words with action, it will lay to rest insinuations that Chad has shied away from the war because some of its highly placed citizens are in bed with Boko Haram. Aso Rock also needs to clear the air on the botched ceasefire deal with some Boko Haram elements. The purported ceasefire deal had raised hopes that the Chibok girls would be freed but it later turned out to be a hoax. It will amount to a monumental failure on the part of Jonathan’s administration if the Chibok girls remain in captivity by April 2015. It owes the parents of the girls and other children either kidnapped or killed by Boko Haram a duty to bring the evil doers to justice. The international community needs to come down from its high horse to lend a helping hand to the effort. Any problems can be sorted out later; but first, let’s drive away the fox threatening to steal our chickens. Where are we on the contentious state of emergency? Is it still in force or is a new programme of action underway? Nigerians need to be told. I would like to call on Shettima and leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress as well as highly placed Nigerians who can use their clout to change the stance of the international community on the insurgency to do so urgently. It’s not all about politics. This is a matter that threatens our nation and the effort to bring it to an end must be a collective one. May God grant our leaders the will and wisdom to bring this bloody war to a quick end. Amen.

On Marble

A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea.

– Honore de Balzac

Emeka Madunagu

Sanctity of Truth

And Mr. President visited Maiduguri

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Leisure & Puzzle }40

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

N150

}55

Now their souls may rest for good GUEST COLUMNIST Ifeanyi Afuba

t the end of the Nigeria – Biafra war, folks on the eastern divide greeted each other with the prayer – salutation, ‘happy survival!’ It was a natural impulse that surged on meeting with a relative, friend or associate whose fate in the harrowing events had remained unknown to you. The scary signatures of the conflict were everywhere; intruding into your psyche even if you wanted to avoid them – malnourishment all around, blown up bridges, buildings pock marked with bullet holes, abandoned artillery pieces and cases of spent cartridges, queues for essential commodities and so on. It was merciful providence to be alive. A short while into the new season, prolific writer Cyprian Ekwensi published the novel, Survive the Peace. It was an artistic recreation of the transition from the trauma of war to the sobriety of peace. From the life of the characters, the post – conflict stage could be daunting without the right attitudinal responses. As it were, a key demand of pacification of a brutal past is coming to terms with its memory. Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State led Ndi Anambra and representatives of the other south –eastern states of Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states to do just that on Monday, January 12, 2015 at Ekwueme Square, Awka at the formal burial ceremony for Igbo victims of the civil war. With the theme ozoemena [never again], the religious cum cultural event held with some trappings of a carnival. Setting the tone in his welcome address, Chief Tony Onyima, Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism clarified that the programme ‘is not a rallying call to hate or to remember the wrongs we have suffered but one to build a spirit of forgiveness and ensure the security of our children through peaceful existence and love of our neighbours. It is a rallying call on me and you to remember that people sacrificed their lives for us to enjoy our own today.’ Coming at the period of the annual armed forces remembrance week, the Awka memorial did not appear strange in spite of its novelty. The celebration took on expanded scope with the inclusion of non combatants among those being honoured. Thus, women and children who were victims of the pogrom that preceded the war or who died as victims of battle operations were also beneficiaries of this collective tribute. It had taken three months of planning and organization by the ten member committee headed by Col Ben Gbulie to kick off the programme intended to be an annual event. Alongside Gbulie, two other members of the committee, namely Col E.M. Udeaja and Col Emma Nwobosi were all captains in the Nigerian Army before Biafra’s secession. The Bishops of the Catholic and An-

Ojukwu

Obiano

glican Dioceses of Awka, Most Rev Dr Paulinus Ezeokafor and Most Rev Alexander Ibezim respectively, led the order of ecumenical service, assisted by the state leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN]. There were Bible readings, responsorial psalms and commendation hymns at intervals of the ninety minutes long memorial service. Governor Willie Obiano read the first lesson taken from the book of Job [19: 1. 23-27]. On the heels of Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor’s pungent homily, the capacity – packed square radiated with fluttering flames as candles were lit and raised in memory of the dead. Unlike the scenario of Leopold Sedar Senghor’s “In Memoriam”, when the poet as a student in France could not find any known names in the cemetery to remember on All Souls Day, everyone at Ekwueme Square had someone to intone a hymn in his or her honour. And not to be left out of the celebration was the man after whom the public space was named, former vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme, who defying the limitations of old age, actively participated in the proceedings. Delivering his speech richly punctuated with fraternal compliments of umu nnem, [brothers and sisters], Obiano offered an insightful and incisive picture of the raison d’etre of the event. ‘We believe in the centrality of God in the affairs of men. We are bold enough to accept the cruel verdict of fate and bury our dead with fanfare. Our culture upholds the centrality of ‘burial’ as a crucial epilogue in the narrative of life…My administration is committed to lifting up the standards of our shared experience. We shall continue our bold efforts to ensure that we are not only united in times of adversity and grief but in times of victory and peace. With this ceremony, I urge you to mourn no more but rather celebrate the bravery of these great spirits who lost their lives yesterday that we may find peace today.’ Amidst interjections of ‘Akpokuedike!, his title name from his admirers, Obiano glided from the philosophical to the historical and contemporary. ‘History presents us with a long list

of ethnicities and nations that have risen through horrific experiences to strengthen their ties of brotherhood and reaffirm their humanity through symbolic events …In the Jewish example, we see the firm resolve of the world Jewry to ensure that the tragic history of the Holocaust is permanently etched on human memory…Many major cities in Europe and America have a Holocaust memorial built to perpetuate the memory of six million Jews. Instructively, the people of Rwanda have quickly recovered from the genocide that marked the Hutu and Tutsi conflict of the early 1990s to build an ambitious economy. They have erected the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre which opened in April 2004to perpetuate that memory, renew their pact with their past and solemnly declare to themselves and say – never again.’ Preaching the homily, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor situated the issue of remembrance from a Christian perspective, pointing out that without an ethics of remembrance, memory could be abused. ‘I heard that our celebration today is understood by some people as a way of placating the spirits of departed and forgotten Igbo sons and daughters who are now blocking the progress of the Igbo nation. To open up the path of Ndi Igbo to peace and prosperity, these aggrieved spirits need to be celebrated. This interpretation is indeed very far from our Christian belief about death and life after death. It also violates the challenge from the Book of Job to continue to trust God and know that in the mystery of God’s love and justice, virtuous and upright people could suffer. The high point of this mystery of God allowing the suffering of the just is seen in Jesus Christ, whom it pleased God to crush with suffering.’ The close of the ecumenical service only brought the first part of the ceremony to an end. At the lighting of a thousand candles, the Square reverberated with the thunder of cannon shots. It served to announce the act of burial and further marked the traditional salute to bid the dead farewell among the

Igbo. Accompanied by a select number of dignitaries, Obiano strolled to the spot of the memorial plaque, acknowledging cheers with swinging motions of his milky fly whisk. The plaque unveiled, the programme transited into the second part, the condolences and funeral festivity. A burst of musical instruments erupted from various points of the arena, moving the already roused crowd to excitement. Delegations of market associations from the five South – Eastern states jostled for space even as dance groups competed for air dominance. By this time, Obiano had taken his seat at the obi to receive the callers on condolence. Market groups, delegations from the twenty – one local government areas of Anambra State and a host of civil society groups, took their turns paying tribute to the war dead. More cannon shots boomed. Dance and drama reigned as masquerades, as diverse in costume as in role, made their appearance. The izaga simplified definition of onomatopoeia with its zig zag movement as it walked on long stilts. Agaba or okwomma wore its warrior expression but kept its elastic valour in check. Ugo, the golden bird enacted a few dance steps, preened itself here and there and filed out, postponing full performance to another day. But you could not deny the ijele its majesty, its pomp and pageantry. It stood out in size, stature and colour. A spirit of class, it left you wondering after its graceful poise; its breadth and depth. Ajofia was unique in its forbidding image. Adorned in pitch black animal wool, it struck a beastly note in movement and ghoulish mood in appearance as it continually emitted smoke. It is a mask that makes rare appearances and had reportedly last accompanied the Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Ojukwu on condolence at the funeral of his in law, late C.C. Onoh. The War Memorial Centre is to eventually have its permanent site along the expressway close to the Central Bank of Nigeria complex even as compilation of register of war casualties continues. In the estimation of some analysts, the impact naturally accruable from the ceremony has been downgraded by the non participation of other state governments in the zone. Chief Victor Umeh, APGA national chairman, believes it was a worthwhile outing. ‘We will get there’, he says. ‘It will be an annual memorial. I’m optimistic the other states will come aboard. It takes the courage of one man to show the way.’ For Chief Emeka Onuorah, Chairman, Njikoka Local Government of Anambra State, a milestone was recorded with the event. ‘This is history updated. But it is not only history refreshed. With this initiative of Governor Obiano, history, religion, culture and philosophy find a confluence. There’s a lot to learn from it all.’ Onuorah also pointed to the psychological relief of knowing that your burden is shared by others as another important benefit. ‘I have no doubt that many hearts troubled by the events of the war will feel pacified after today.’ • Afuba wrote in from Nimo, Anambra State.

Printed and Published by Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Ltd: Head Office: No. 1A, Ajumobi Street, Off ACME Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja-Lagos. Tel: +234 1-2219496, 2219498. Abuja Office: Orji Kalu House, Plot 322, by Banex Junction, Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Advert Hotline: 01-8541248, Email: info@newtelegraphonline.com Website: www.newtelegraphonline.com ISSN 2354-4317 Editor: YEMI AJAYI.