Friday, january 23, 2015 binder1 by Newtelegraphonline

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Vol. 1 No. 337

Friday, January 23, 2015

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Manufacturers employed 2.8 m Nigerians in 2010 -NBS }5

Nigeria, Chad, Niger sign pact on Boko Haram Emmanuel Onani Abuja

igeria and two of its neighbours – Chad and Niger – have signed an agreement to

team up in fighting Boko Haram, which has turned into a transnational terror group. A top security source close to the deal told New Telegraph yesterday that the stage for the deal was

set by President Goodluck Jonathan who had a series of telephone conversations with his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby. Boko Haram, which is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, has

increasingly made incursions into Cameroon and is also threatening the stability of Niger and Chad. It was gathered that at a point during the talks between the two leaders, Jonathan had directed the

22 days to go...

National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki, to tie up the loose ends. Dasuki subsequently dispatched Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and the Chief of Army

Nigeria votes

2015

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

ria Nige

s vote

2015

}14 & 15

‘It's forged result'

lPDP faults Buhari's school certificate lAPC: Go to court if you are dissatisfied }2 Government College, Katsina... the school Buhari attended

Main entrance of the college

Buhari

Administrative block/assembly hall of the college

NSA Dasuki, calls for poll shift

lINEC, APC, Atiku kick Our Correspondents

ational Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasu-

ki (rtd) yesterday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to defer next month's election by three

months. Doing so, he said, would allow INEC enough time to distribute Permanent Voters' Cards (PVCs)

to millions of voters who could be disenfranchised due to no fault of theirs. But his call, made CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Travel Advisory

Your guide to local and international flights }4

Quick Read

Editorial

The death penalty debate }19 Campaigns delay MTEF, budget }6

News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Buhari's statement of result forged, says PDP Onyekachi Eze and Johnchuks Onuanyim ABUJA

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday raised queries on the statement of result obtained by the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, from his alma mater, Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. The party impugned the credibility of the result, describing it as a forgery. But is a swift rebuttal, the APC dismissed the PDP's claim and challenged the ruling party to go to court if it is dissatisfied with the statement of result obtained from the school, now christened

Government College, Katsina. Buhari, who had been pilloried for claiming in an affidavit attached to his nomination form, submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that his school certificate result was with the military, had said at a press conference in Kano on Wednesday that he had applied to his alma mater for a certified true copy of his result. His press conference came after the military had said there was no result in his service file. The school released the result on Wednesday, showing that Buhari sat for the Cambridge/West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961. But Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presi-

dential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, at a press conference yesterday, said a painstaking scrutiny of the result showed "an obvious alteration on the Mathematics column of the candidate, Mohammed Buhari, who was assumed that scored an 'F' in the subject". According to FaniKayode, the result sheet attributed to the Cambridge examination body is a super imposition of one document on another. He said: "This raises a very fundamental issue of validity in view of the fact that the accompanying result sheet states that “any alteration or erasure renders this statement of Results invalid." "One of the footnotes on the document purport-

edly issued by the University of Cambridge says 'the results of this candidate in all subjects except English Language have been carried forward from the 1960 examination.' "The question arising from this is: When exactly did Buhari sit for all the other subjects claimed to have been passed in the Secondary School Examination? "Our conclusion from all these is that the documents purportedly released by Government College (Pilot) Katsina, upon which the APC presidential candidate hopes to bury the doubt about his eligibility for next month’s election are forged, manipulated and fraudulently procured. They are therefore untenable in fact and in law," he

said. Fani-Kayode called on the masterminds of the alleged forgery to come forward and be identified, adding that if they failed to do so, the police and other security agencies will seek them out to bring them to justice. But the APC leadership discountenanced the PDP's queries, saying anybody not satisfied with Buhari's certificate as released should go to court. The party's National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this would be the last time the party would react to issues on the certificate of its presidential candidate. "Anybody who is not satisfied on what we have done should go to court. That is our answer. As

L-R: Guest speaker/Editor-in-Chief, Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi; National Coordinator, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Motunrayo Alaka; Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, New Telegraph Newspapers, Mr. Eric Osagie; Project Officer, British High Commission, Theresa Adeniyi; News Editor, New Telegraph, Mr. Geoffery Ekenna and guest speaker/Editor, Sunday Trust, Mr. Theophilus Abbah, during a seminar on investigative journalism for editorial staff of New Telegraph in Lagos… yesterday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

National Security Adviser, Dasuki, calls for poll shift CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

while addressing the Chatham House in London, was opposed by INEC, All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Dasuki told the members of the London thinktank and other guests that he had advised INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to shift the elections, due to begin on February 14, within the three-month limit sanctioned by the law. His call came a day after North-East governors

disagreed with their Adamawa State colleague, Mr. Bala James Ngilari, for INEC not to hold elections in states ravaged by Boko Haram. The elections will be the first where Nigeria's 68.8 million voters must have biometric cards, a measure introduced to guard against fraud that has plagued past polls. But there have been technical glitches in data collection and officials have not explained how they will hold the election in parts of the NorthEast.

A report by Reuters quoted Dasuki as saying that INEC had distributed 30 million cards in the past year but had another 30 million to hand out. He said INEC had assured him it would achieve this in time for the February date, but he thought it would make more sense to take more time and there was a 90day window during which the election could legally take place. "It costs you nothing, it's still within the law," Dasuki said he had told the INEC chairman, say-

ing it was for INEC and not for him to decide. But Jega's Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said the commission had not received such advisory from the NSA. Responding to New Telegraph's inquiry on whether INEC will postpone the elections, if by February 8 deadline for the collection of PVCs the number of uncollected cards was still high, Kayode said there was no point taking such a decision because many people were still collecting their PVCs nationwide.

"It depends on what you mean by the number being high. I know people have been collecting as I speak with you now and I am not aware of any communication from the NSA advising us to postpone the elections," he stated. The APC, however, warned INEC against heeding such advice. The party in a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Dasuki's advocacy for a poll shift, had exposed an alCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

far as we are concerned, this matter is dead and buried. Anybody who is not satisfied should go to court. We are not ready to waste our time and energy on people who obviously are not ready for elections and who would find excuses to postpone these elections. If they are not satisfied with what we have produced, let them go to court and this is the last time I am going to answer any question on Buhari's certificate," he said while responding to New Telegraph's inquiry. Also, the Director, Media and Publicity of APCPCO, Mallam Garba Shehu, said people should make their inquiry on the certificate from the Cambridge in London. According to him, any other thing anybody would want to know concerning the certificate of the APC presidential candidate should be obtained from the institutions concern. Garba, in a statement, also said the campaign organisation would not respond to Fani-Kayode's claims as it would rather engage him on issues that have the potential to bring the greatest good to the greatest number of Nigerians. He stated that it was laughable the PDP would not let go of the educational qualifications of the Buhari, even when the matter has been exhaustively laid to rest. “It is not our desire in the APC presidential campaign organisation to join an individual who has a record of talking to please the moment on any petty issue. At some point in the recent past, it was convenient for Fani-Kayode to say this of the APC and its leaders: 'What Nigerians need now is to join hands with the APC leaders, Major General Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to move the nation forward.’ Today, a Fani-Kayode sees no desecration in recanting that same position, just to satisfy his convenience. “The APC and its candidate are in this presidential campaign to discuss issues that will improve the standard of living of Nigerians and ensure that the people of this country are properly secured. Whenever the PDP and its presidential campaign spokesman feel ready to join us on this noble path, we will not be willing to join them on petty issues,” Shehu said.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Travel Advisory

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

International Flight Schedule 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

KLM

ARIK AIRLINES

Lagos-London London-Lagos Lagos-New York

W3 101 W3 102 W3 107 (Mon, Wed , Fri) New York-Lagos W3 108 (Tues,Thurs, Fri) Lagos-Johannesburg W3 103 Johannesburg-Lagos W3 104 Lagos-Douala - (Tues, Wed ,Thur) Douala-Lagos - (Tues, Wed, Thur) Lagos-Accra -

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

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

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

EGYPT AIR

KENYA AIRWAYS

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

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

Lagos-Nairobi Nairobi-Lagos

KQ 533 KQ 534

12:30hrs 18:00hrs

19:35hrs 23:45hrs

12:30hrs

16:00hrs

Lagos-Kigali

11:15hrs

16:45hrs

10:45hrs 09:35hrs 11:10hrs 13:25hrs 07:20hrs 17:00hrs 08:05hrs 13:35hrs 18:00hrs

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

AWB 201 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) AWB 202 (Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun)

14:00hrs

17:30hrs

22:35hrs 15:10hrs

06:00hrs 21:20hrs

17:00hrs 06:00hrs 08:00hrs 17:00hrs 08:00hrs 15:20hrs 21:00hrs

hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs

01:00hrs

hrs

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

Accra-Lagos

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

-(Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun) -(Mon, Wed, Fri) -(Daily) - (Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri,Sat) -(Tue,Wed, Fri,Sat,Sun)

BRITISH AIRWAYS

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

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

EMIRATES AIRLINES

QATAR AIRWAYS DELTA AIRLINES

UNITED AIRLINES

Lagos-Houston Houston-Lagos

UA 143 UA 142

10:10hrs 19:10hrs

6:05hrs 15.15hrs

Lagos - Addis Ababa ET900 Addis Ababa - Lagos ET901 Abuja - Addis Ababa ET910 Addis Ababa - Abuja ET911 Enugu - Addis Ababa ET930 Addis Ababa - Enugu ET931 Kano - Addis Ababa ET930 Addis Ababa - Kano 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

5:25+1hrs 20:20hrs

Lagos-Casablanca Casablanca-Lagos

AT738 AT 737

06:25hrs 02:15hrs

09:55hrs 6:00hrs

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

IBERIA

air maroc

RwandAir

Kigali-Lagos

Turkish Airlines

Lagos-Istanbul Nairobi-Lagos

332 333

Air Côte d'Ivoire Lagos to Abidjan Abidjan to Lagos

HF 851 (Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun) HF 852 (Mon,Wed, Thurs, Sat)

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

10:10hrs

10:50hrs

19:20hrs

21.50hrs

Flight No. KP 032 (Tue-Fri) KP 032 ( Tue-Fri)

Departure Arrival 14:00hrs 15:55hrs 16:30hrs 18:15hrs

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)

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

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

Local FLIGHT SCHEDULE 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 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

News

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Manufacturers employed 2.8m Nigerians in 2010 –NBS Abdulwahab Isa ABUJA

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released yesterday has put the number of Nigerians employed in 2011 in the manufacturing sector at 3,029,884 representing an increase by 148,912 persons or 5.17 per cent of those employed in 2010 put at 2,880,973. Similarly in 2012, NBS said there was a marginal decline in employment in the manufacturing sector, by 48,803 persons or 1.61 per cent to reach a total of 2,368,514 employed in that year. “In 2010, 82.23 per cent or 2,368,970 of those engaged in the manufacturing sector were paid employees. This portion increased in the following year, by 7.86 per cent or 186,214 employees,

meaning that all of the increase in engagement in the sector in 2011 was from new paid employees. From the 2,555,184 paid employees recorded in the manufacturing sector in 2011, there was a decrease of 7.31 per cent or 186,870 employees to 2,368,514,” said the statement The break down shows that majority of those employed in the manufacturing sector are males, making up 78.62 per cent (2,264,916) of those engaged and a slightly larger portion of 81.14 per cent (1,922,223) of those paid in 2010. Females make up 546,805 or 18.98 per cent of those engaged, yet 391,362 or 16.52 per cent of those employed in the same year. The remaining 2.41 per cent is dominated by non-Nigerian males, which make up 57,570 or 2.00 per cent of those

employed in 2010, while non-Nigerian females take the remaining 11,681 or 0.41 per cent of those engaged. For non-Nigerian males, the same portion of 2 per cent are paid employees, making up 47,342 employees, whilst non-Nigerian females have a lower portion paid, at 8,043 or 0.34 per cent of the total in 2010. “In 2011, there were increases in both engaged

and employed persons in the manufacturing sector across all genders and nationalities. In absolute terms, the largest was for Nigerian males, which increased by 4.98 per cent or 112,785 persons engaged and 9.01 per cent or 172,097 persons employed to reach 2,377,701 and 2,095,320 employees respectively. “Non-Nigerians had the greatest percentage increases, with females

engaged increasing by 9.75 per cent or 1,139 persons, to reach 12,820 in total in 2011. NonNigerian paid employment had the greatest increase of the paid employees, with 11.04 per cent or 5,227 employees in 2011, reaching 52,568 employed,” the bureau said. “For those engaged in the manufacturing sector, there was a 62,217 person or 10.79 per cent

APC petitions police, DSS, others on Fayose's alleged death advert Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he All Progressive Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) yesterday petitioned the Inspector General of Po-

lice, Mr. Suleiman Abba and other security agencies over the allegedly death advert against its presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, sponsored by Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose. In the petition signed

by the Governor of Rivers State and Director General of the Campaign, Rotimi Amaechi, the APCPCO condemned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Fayose for portraying its candidate, Buhari, as a dead man with a view to scare

Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman, Heirs Holdings Group, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu and President, African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, during the breakfast session on Unlocking Global Institutional Capital for Africa, co-hosted by Heirs Holdings and Dangote Group at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland...yesterday.

Nigeria, Chad, Niger sign pact on Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, to fine-tune the details of the agreement. It was learnt that the Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou was also part of the deal so as to strengthen the resolve of the countries to fight Boko Haram. The source said the three countries, which contributed troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), located in Baga, Borno State, were discussing with President Paul Biya of Cameroun to participate in the renewed efforts to fight Boko Haram. Boko Haram has of late shifted focus to Cameroun where it has launched successive raids on targets, including the military, in the

country. At the weekend, Boko Haram abducted 60 people in a deadly attack in northern Cameroun. The militants "burst into two villages in the Tourou area... They torched houses and left with around 60 people. Most of them were women and children," a police officer said. However, about 30 of the hostages have been released. As part of the new offensive against Boko Haram, Niger’s Foreign Minister, Mohamed Bazoum, yesterday said nations threatened by Boko Haram would seek United Nations Security Council authorisation for a multinational force to fight the militants. According to him, the countries of the Lake Chad

decline from 576,868 to 512,642 persons. For those paid, the decline was by 14.59 per cent or 58,123 employees from 398,458 in 2011 to 340, 335 in 2012. For those in paid manufacturing employment, the only increase in employment was for non-Nigerian males, which increased by 9,197 employees or 17.49% in 2012, to reach 61,765 paid employees,” it said.

region have agreed during a meeting in Niger’s capital Niamey on Tuesday that the resolution will be presented to the UN by the African Union. However he did not specify when this would be done. `Boko Haram, which is fighting to create an Islamic emirate in northern Nigeria, has increasingly made incursions into neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad. “Mistrust and disagreements between the states has however hampered attempts to pool military resources. “The countries had agreed to create a multinational force to tackle the insurgents by last November but failed to contribute the troops. “Contrary to what

happened in the past, we agreed with our partners that a resolution should passed by the Security Council that will allow the establishment of the Joint Multinational Force,’’ a report by Reuters quoted Bazoum as saying. He said the countries also agreed to move the headquarters of the proposed multinational force from Baga to the Chadian capital N’Djamena after Baga was seized and ransacked by Boko Haram fighters. Meanwhile, the Federal Government is considering recalling troops on peacekeeping missions abroad. The development is intended to "enhance the operational capabilities of the Nigerian military." The government has

also reacted to the new video purportedly released by the Boko Haram self-acclaimed leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowing to probe the threat that the group has the capacity to overrun Nigeria, with the equipment it carted away from its attack on the MNJTF in Baga. Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mr. Mike Omeri, at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, said while the Federal Government was disturbed by the activities of Boko Haram, it would not accept any support that will undermine its sovereignty. "There is a need for a 'troops surge' in operational areas which may require recalling Nigerian troops from peacekeeping misCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Nigerians from voting for him in the February 14 election. According to statement from the Director of Media and Publicity of APCPCO, Mallam Garba Shehu, the advert portrayed Buhari as likely to die in office just like past northern leaders such as Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, General Sani Abacha and General Murtala Mohammed. The campaign organisation described the advert as "morbid and reckless" and that such irresponsible political advert is not only "in bad taste, but also capable of undermining law and order in the country." The strongly-worded petition said that insinuating death for a man who is still alive based on unscientific logic or prediction is capable of causing a breach of the peace across the country. The petition also drew the attention of the IGP to the fact that Fayose's advert violated the spirit and letter of the Ambassador Kofi Annan initiative, which had Nigerian political parties and their presidential candidates sign a peace accord. It, therefore, urged the IGP to investigate the origin of Fayose's "sinister and inhuman" advert and call him to order with a view to preventing a repeat of such provocative publication in the interest of peace. The Campaign Organisation said: "Copies of the petition have been sent to the Department of State Security (DSS), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and The Sun and The Punch newspapers". Meanwhile the former vice president and chieftain of APC, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has warned government not to tinker with election timetable.

News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Electioneering delays MTEF, Senate’s consideration of budget Chukwu David Abuja

here are indications that the 2015 Appropriation Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly will not receive accelerated consideration in the Senate as senators are all in their various constituencies mobilising the electorate towards the February 14 presidential and National Assembly elections. Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, in a telephone interview with New Telegraph, indicated that it was not possible for the lawmakers to be present at the moment to tinker with the budget when politicians were at the peak of electioneering. When asked if he was present at the National Assembly Complex for committee work on the budget, he replied: "I am not there now. How can anybody be there or are you not in the country to know what is happening. For you to expect me to be there by this time, it means you are crafting my downfall. Please I cannot be there now."

Earlier, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North) had stressed that the Senate was not going to attend to the budget until after the presidential and National Assembly elections, insisting that the parliament would not be stampeded to hastily consider the document. The N4.3 trillion budget proposal was presented to the two chambers of the apex parliament on December 17, 2014 by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala. But before the Senate

went on Christmas and New Year recess, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark said that the Upper Chamber would commence work on the document this January, pledging that it would be given expeditious passage. However, the Senate last week Wednesday passed the Appropriation Bill for second reading and committed the document to its Committees on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative action. This was in spite of vehement criticisms that trailed the budget estimates. Senators had

examined the various parameters upon which the budget estimates were based by the Federal Government, and described the projections as unrealistic. The legislators also called for a review of the document before its passage into law, arguing that any step to the contrary would plunge the nation into further socio-economic quagmire. The lawmakers had viewed parameters such as the $65 oil benchmark, projected oil production of 2.2782 million barrel per day and average exchange

rate of N165 to a US dollar proposed in the budget as unrealistic and deceptive. The Senators were aggrieved over the projections based on the facts that the price of crude had crashed to about $45$46 per barrel and the exchange rate is about N182 to a dollar, realities that are miles away from the projections in the 2015 budget proposal. Similarly, the Senate also last week referred the revised 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to its Committee on Finance for legislative input. The com-

mittee is to lay its report on the floor in two weeks. The document is also pending at the committee stage without attention as senators are busy in their constituencies fighting for their election. The Federal Government had returned the revised 2015-2017 MTEF to the Senate on December 16, 2014 to ratify the amendments done on the document as a result of the global crash in the price of crude oil, which is already having adverse effect on Nigerian economy as a mono-product economy.

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Nigeria, Chad, Niger sign pact on Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

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KANO

L-R: Chairman Kakanfo Inn, Dr. Lekan Are; Chief Executive Officer, Kakanfo, Mr. Adedamola Are and Oyo State Governor, Mr. Abiola Ajimobi, during the governor's interactive session with the organised private sector in Ibadan…on Wednesday

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sions abroad, to enhance the operational capabilities of the Nigerian military. "Regarding the recent barbaric attacks in the north-eastern part of the country, the United Nations has condemned, in the strongest terms, the activities of the Boko Haram and we welcomed the international solidarity shown by the world body, through its Security Council, which demands that Boko Haram immediately and unequivocally cease all hostilities and abuses of human rights and other violations of international humanitarian law. Nigeria welcomes this expression of international support for the defeat of Boko Haram, working in collaboration with its neighbours - Chad, Cameroun, Niger and Benin. "Because, we appear to be vulnerable, we will not accept support that will undermine our sover-

eignty; we will continue to seek support, but not support that will undermine our sovereignty," he stated. On the perceived collapse of the MNJTF, the NIC coordinator said: "In the face of the various challenges militating against the full operationalisation of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and its apparent collapse, a number of African countries converged on Niamey, Niger Republic on January 20, 2015 with the sole aim of seeking authorisation from the UN Security Council, through the African Union, to set up, fund and deploy a more effective multinational force to fight Boko Haram. "Offer of military and humanitarian assistance from regional and international bodies, should be deployed along Nigeria's common borders with neighbouring countries with a clear mandate, command and control, as well as rule of engagement."

NSA, Dasuki, calls for poll shift CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

leged clandestine plot by the Jonathan administration to push for the postponement of the polls. ''Now that we have found the smoking gun, we are urging the international community, in particular, to urgently extract a commitment from President Goodluck Jonathan that the elections will hold as scheduled next month, and that he would respect the outcome, just as we have said," it said. The party said Dasuki was only seeking to buy time for the slugging Jonathan electioneering to gather steam by hinging his postponement call on the delay in PVCs' distribution. "They know for sure that if they don't postpone the elections, there is no way they can win. They are just terrified," APC added. The party also called on Nigerians to reject the ongoing orchestrated plot by the Jonathan ad-

ministration to postpone the elections, saying the constitutional crisis that will be triggered by such postponement is capable of undermining the nation's democracy. Atiku also warned the Federal Government against tinkering with the election timetable. The former vice-president acknowledged that though there was a problem in distributing of the PVCs, it was not enough reason to shift the polls. He said: "Yes, we have a problem with the distribution of PVCs but the position of my party, the APC, is that since we have a voters' register then that should be used in conducting the elections. I also believe there is enough time between now and the elections to issue everyone with their PVCs," Atiku said yesterday shortly after he arrived in the country from a medical check-up abroad. He described Dasuki's call for a postponement

of the elections as unnecessary, saying that it portends a dangerous signal about the intentions of the Federal Government to conduct free, fair and credible polls in February. Atiku, in a statement by his media office, said he was "strong, healthy and happy" to be back to support the train of change sweeping across the country. "The duty of participating in the process of change which our great party, the APC, is committed to supersedes every other consideration. For me, participating in this campaign is a call to national duty. “It is a duty which we cannot afford to compromise upon and we must press into the consciousness of those at the helms of affairs that it is morally dubious and socially unacceptable to extend the dates of the elections by a single day from the scheduled timelines,” the former vice-president said.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Fashola: Nigeria won't divide if Jonathan loses Temitope Ogunbanke and Muritala Ayinla

he Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday said Nigerians would remain more united if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the forthcoming general election. That was even as he accused the president of dividing Nigerians along religious and ethnic lines, rather than fulfilling his electoral promises. The governor, who also said that he was yet to get his Permanent Voters Card (PVC), noted that it was unfortunate that many eligible voters in the

country were yet to collect their PVCs less than one month to the general election. Speaking yesterday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign rally in Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area in Lagos State, Fashola said that he has no personal disagreement with President Jonathan but was worried with the rate at which the President had allegedly divided Nigerians for political reasons. The governor also chided the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, gubernatorial candidate, Jimi Agbaje for a statement credited to him that the south-south

will collapse the nation's economy if Jonathan loses in the incoming election. His words: “Nigeria will not divide if President Goodluck Jonathan losses the February 14th election. Rather, it is the President who will leave office and return to his home town in Bayelsa State. He has deceived us enough.” He said rather than fulfilling his promises, he (the president) started using “divide and rule," dividing us along ethnic lines. Is the President God? If God chose to make us different, no one can question that.

CPC withdraws suit against Coca-Cola, NBC Amadi Nnamdi ABUJA

he Consumer protection Council (CPC) has announced the discontinuation of the legal suit instituted against Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) and CocaCola Nigeria Limited by the Council. This development was contained in a statement issued yesterday by Ondaje Ijagwu of CPC Public Relations Unit. According to the state-

ment, which was signed by representatives of the three parties to the suit, the parties agreed to an amicable resolution of the contentious issues. “In the spirit of constructive dialogue and amicable resolution and in the interest of a friendly environment that will ensure more effective protection of consumer rights, the parties committed to withdraw all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, instituted in respect of the investigation,” the statement read.

The parties affirmed their commitment to collaboration and partnership in furtherance of the CPC’s mandate to protest the rights of consumers and promote business development and effective regulation of industries. Last year, the Federal Government dragged the Nigerian Bottling Company, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and the chief executives of both firms before a Federal High Court in Abuja for criminal breach of the Consumer Protection Council Act.

2015: CAN warns youth's against violence Ibraheem Musa KADUNA

he Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned youths not to be lured by unscrupulous politicians to cause crisis before, during and after the February election. The group said the advice was important because no politician is worth dying for. The state SecretaryGeneral of CAN, Rev-

erend Sunday Ibrahim, who gave this advice yesterday at a one day youth sensitization and awareness campaign, noted that if any youth dies in the course of election, politicians would continue with their politics and the same politicians may defect to the party that the youth fought against. According to him, any politician that is calling on the youth ‘’to engage in any form of violence is not only a wicked fellow but an enemy of God, be-

cause violence is not an attribute of the God we serve. Our God is God of Peace and we are peaceloving people.’’ “But if politicians insist that you as youth must be used for violence, then let such politician or his children lead the battle, then you follow. But a situation where a politician hides his family in Dubai, London, or New York and what have you, but stay here and keep beating the war drum, will not be tolerated by us as Christians,” he said.

Jonathan, proud of Kano reception, says Shekarau Muhammad Kabir KANO

allam Ibrahim Shekarau, the Minister of Education and a member of President Goodluck Jonathan reelection committee has said that the President was so elated on the conduct, when he visited the state on his campaign mission. Shekarau noted that: “President Jonathan

couldn’t believe the attitude and excellent conduct together with political maturity showered on him as he visited the state, which clearly indicated that the state is up for grabs.” He said the mammoth crowd that received the President from the Airport to the venue of the rally was unprecedented to extent that the President was making some sentimental remarks about the state. Shekarau

hinted that, “we received not sign that would have given negative indications that the visitor who though a leader regardless of politics was not welcome to Kano. “I want to believe what happened was in the spirit of the social reorientation that we implemented and Kano people enjoyed while we were in government, which means they are ready to give us their votes so that we continue.”

News

NATIONAL

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘FG’s N2.4bn water project in Edo fraudulent’ Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

do State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday challenged the Federal Government to show the people of Central senatorial district where its N2.4 billion water project was sited. He blasted the PDP-led Federal Government for claims that the project had been completed and commissioned, pointing out that the local people still can’t get potable water. Speaking at Uromi, during the campaign of the All Progressives Congress in Edo Central on Wednesday, Oshiomhole said “the problem we have today is that in the books of Abuja, PDP says they have brought water to Esanland. If you ask the Onojie of Ugboha, the Onojie of Uromi and all the other Onojies in Esanland, they will tell you that there is no water in Esanland. They came to my office and said they are not going to allow the Vice President to come.” Speaking to the mammoth crowd at the rally, Oshiomhole queried the

change of nameS

AGBATOR

I formerly known and addressed as Etute Odion George now wish to be known and addressed as Agbator Ehimen Anthony. All former documents remain valid. General public

JIBRIN

I formerly known and addressed as Baba Gana now wish to be known and addressed as Baba Gana Jibrin. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OPAJOBI

I formerly known and addressed as Okunowo Taiwo Olufunke now wish to be known and addressed as Opajobi Taiwo Olufunke. All former documents remain valid. General public

ONWUELINGO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Cynthia Ogochukwu Eneh now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Cynthia Ogochukwu Onwuelingo All former documents remain valid. General public take note

Odunlude

I formerly known, called and addressed as Rotimi Emmanuel Godwin, now wish to be known called and addressed as Rotimi Emmanuel Odunlude in every documentation and identification.

Shima

I, formerly known and addressed as Josephine Erhiaganome, now henceforth wish to be known and called Mrs. Josephine Shima. All former documents remain valid, the general public should take note.

Azibalua

I formerly known called and addressed as Miss Ikpaise Omojewve Francisca now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Azibalua Ikpaise O. Francisca. All former documents remain vaid. General public take note

Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government’s claim of completion of a N2.4 billion Esan Water Project, maintaining that no such project was executed in the area. “For 16 years, year af-

ter year, PDP kept promising that they will give us power, yet no power. APC State Government gave you transformers but you still don’t have light because transmission and generation,

which is required for the transformers to produce light, have been sold by PDP Federal Government to their relatives.” Oshiomhole maintained: “PDP have failed the nation. Instead of

light, they produce darkness. They couldn’t produce jobs, hence millions of Nigerians are unemployed and there is no light, industries cannot function. Are we going to allow them remain?

L-R: Chairman of the Occasion, Justice Mustaph Akanbi; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Abudlrahaman Dambazau and former Vice-President, World Bank, African Region, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, during the Daily Trust 12 dialogue in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Group drags Buhari to ICC over 2011 election violence Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

non-governmental organisation, the Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice (NCDJ) is revisiting the 2011 post election violence by filing a case against presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari. The coalition stated this yesterday in Abuja, in a statement jointly signed by its Secretary General, Umar Farouk, Publicity Secretary, Yunanan Shibkau, Organising Secretary, Baba Nagari, Secretary Research and Documentation, Dr. Ibrahim Baba and Secretary International Affairs, Abdulazeez Suleiman. It said they have ample evidence to support the call for prosecution of Buhari at the ICC. After the 2011 general elections, Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was accused by the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) of making inciting comments that had fuelled the post election protest that occurred in 2011.

They argued that the fresh complaint is a follow-up to an earlier one submitted by NCDJ to the ICC in May 2011. The group said: “There are ample video, audio and documented evidence to support a prosecution against Buhari, who incidentally is going into the presidential race once again with an attendant mounting apprehension, particularly recent statements credited to him and some of his allies. “The growing incidence of ethno-centrism, intolerance, intimidation, religious, regional, communal and political violence are largely caused by intense competition over wealth and power by elites desperately craving to triumph above and over their political rivals by all means”. Asked to explain the reason and timing of their move, one of the leaders, Ibrahim Baba, said the move to prosecute the former Head of State for the 2011 post election-violence has become necessary as a caution not only to Buhari who is in the race again for presidency but others, so that everyone will steer clear of inciting rethorics during campaigns.

APC alleged planned attack on Buhari Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

he Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday insisted that there were plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders to cause confusion and attack APC members during the presidential campaign rally of General Muhammadu Buhari. According to the State Publicity Secretary, Mr Taiwo Olatubosun, in Ado-Ekiti, the party had uncovered plans to foment trouble in the state during Saturday’s rally by Buhari. He added that agents of the state government and PDP members had earlier attempted to kill a number of APC stalwarts, especially members of the House of Assembly. “All these premeditated attacks were reported to the police, but from our observation, the police have either been compromised or are helpless in the face of executive lawlessness.

NPC tasks security agents on journalists’ protection Appolonia Adeyemi

n order to ensure the protection of journalists against political violence, assaults, kidnappings and even killing, the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) has called on security agencies to provide necessary cover and protection for their safety during and after the general elections. Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr. Nnamdi Njemanze, who gave the advice also urged security agencies to make use of the initiative of the newly formed National Monitoring Network on Safety of Journalists to provide the necessary cover for media practitioners. He spoke at a workshop

on Effective Coverage and Reportage of 2015 General Elections organised by the Nigerian Press Council in Lagos. The workshop, which drew participants from states of the south west, was also organised with support of the Democratic Governance for Development Project 11 (DGD 11) of the UNDP. It was aimed at sensitising participants on how best to cover the electoral processes towards making the outcome of the 2015 general elections a success and acceptable to the generality of Nigerians. While reminding the Media of the guidelines in the Electoral Act and the Code of Ethics of Journalism as its compass for monitoring the electoral

process, Njemanze said, “Our monitoring ought to be focussed holistically on the totality of electoral process; the election proper and the announcement of results.” In a speech, Lagos State Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, charged the media to beam its search light on the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) with a view to identifying its lapses and report same. Ibirogba, who was represented by Mrs Toro Oladapo, said: “ This is the period when the media will be expected to display high level of patriotism by educating the people on peaceful elections.”

Dabiri-Erewa condemns execution of Nigerians in Indonesia Philip Nyam Abuja

hairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa yesterday described as worrisome the public execution of two Nigerians by the Indonesian government. Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement issued in Abuja and

signed by her, expressed disappointment at the action of the Indonesian government despite persistent plea by Nigeria’s Federal Government and the National Assembly. She said the most harrowing thing about the incident was the way the Indonesian government downplayed the significance of subsisting diplomatic relationship it had with Nigeria and went

ahead with the execution. According to her: “The executions took place against the backdrop of the excellent relations that subsist between Nigeria and Indonesia, and more Nigerians are still on death row in Indonesia and may also be executed, if the Federal Government does not take a more proactive and decisive measure with the Indonesian government”.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

News

NATIONAL

Election: Nigerian Air Force planes to assist INEC — AOC AIR SUPPORT

Electoral body to be assisted in airlift of election materials across the country Flora Onwudiwe

uthorities of the Nigerian Air Force has said that it’s main transport plane

, Charlie -130 Hercules have been designated to assist the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the airlift of election materials across the country during the country’s general election. The outgoing Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Olutayo Oguntoyinbo, made the revelation while handing over to Air Vice Marshal Abdullahi

Shehu , the new AOC of the Logistics Command in Lagos. Oguntoyinbo, said NAF has returned three of the major transport planes to flying condition, adding that they will assist the Federal Government in the forthcoming elections. He said that, “the C130s are serviceable and our aircraft are ready and we wait for the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu

on instruction on what to do.” Avm Oguntoyinbo said that making the “ C130s fly again is the most challenging period of his tenure as AOC,” adding that in the past five and half months he commanded the unit, “we have improved on what had been done.” He however commended the Commanders who worked with him to achieve success, explaining that in pursuant to

the Chief of Air Staff ’s vision, “ the command was able to print its name in the sand of time in all its endeavours.” While urging all commander, officers and men of the force to cooperate with the new AOC to achieve the vision of the Chief of Air Staff, Avm Oguntoyinbo said “we have three serviceable C-130s, we have spares and we know where they are, things are functioning here at

the logistics command and CAS has done so much to ease the life of people here.” Avm Oguntoyinbo handed over to Avm Shehu in emotional but colourful ceremony at the Logistics Command Headquarters in Lagos. Avm Shehu was the Chief of Standard and Evaluation and the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters before he was appointed the AOC logistics command.

Amaechi, Alaibe, others for Editor's book launch Mojeed Alabi

L-R: Director, Engineering Infrastructure, Dr. Mohammed Dauda; Executive Director, Large Scale Industry, Bank of Industry (BoI), Alhaji Mohammed Alkali; Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa; Director General, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr. Mohammed Sani Haruna and Divisional Director, Large Scale Enterprises (BoI), Mr. Joseph Olatunde, during a courtesy visit by the management of BoI to NASENI in Abuja… yesterday. PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Nigeria records 2 million cancer cases Appolonia Adeyemi

s cases of the deadly cancer scourge assumes a frightening dimension worldwide, Nigeria is said to have so far recorded an estimated two million of the disease, while fresh cases of the scourge in the country is put at over 100,000 annually. A professor of Radiotherapy and Oncology at the College of Medicine University of Lagos, Aderemi Tajudeen

Ajekigbe made this revelation in Lagos, while speaking at the 21st Inaugural Lecture of the University of Lagos and the 2nd by the Department of Radiation Biology Radiotherapy Radiodiagnosis and Radiography (RBRRR), College of Medicine University of Lagos. The lecture, which focused on how the deadly disease afflicts victims, attracted top dignitaries from the academic environment, students, among others.

Ajekigbe, however, revealed that cancer should not be seen as a death sentence, urging Nigerians to always ensure that it is detected early, which is key to its cure. Early detection, he noted prolongs lives of cancer survivors, as he urged government at all levels to create conditons for early detection of cancers as well as expand access to cancer care. "Only 10 percent of the two million cancers recorded in Nigeria, representing

about 200,000 have access to hospitals with radiotherapy facilities," he lamented. Giving details of cancer situation in the country, Ajekigbe said about five percent of this number (two million), that is 10,000 have resources to go abroad where they pay between $10,000 to 15,000 per patient for a three to five week course of radiotherapy which translates to about $100 million dollars of foreign excange drain.

Buhari’s Maiduguri rally put-off indefinitely INEC distributes 711, 920 PVCs in Kwara Ahmed Miringa MAIDUGURI

he electioneering campaign of the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) General Muhammadu Buhari scheduled to take place tomorrow in Makurdi, the Maiduguri State capital, has been postponed indefinitely. The Buhari Campaign Organization in the state, in a press statement signed by its Coordinator, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, urged the general public and support-

ers of the APC that the campaign would be held on a new date that would announced soon. The statement reads, “The Buhari Presidential Campaign Organization wishes to inform the members of the general public, millions of supporters of General Muhammadu Buhari, as well as APC leaders and General Muhammadu Buhari faithful that the proposed visit of General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday 24th January 2015 has been rescheduled to a later date”.

Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kwara State said yesterday that it has distributed 711, 920 permanent voters' cards out of 1, 032, 970 accruing to the state. Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyo, who revealed this during a stakeholders' meeting in Ilorin, the state capital, said the number represents 69 per cent of the total

PVCs collected. Onucheyo said that the cards of those who participated in the continuous voters' registration are being processed and assured that cards meant for two polling units in Ekiti Local Gover nment which were snatched earlier are being processed for replacement in due course, The stakeholders' session was attended by representatives of political parties, security agencies, labour unions, among other stakeholders.

over nor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and the former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Timi Alaibe, are some of the dignitaries expected to be guests at the launch of a book authored by the Deputy Editor of THISDAY Newspaper, Mr. Eddy Odivwri. The book, titled, The Pains of a Country, is scheduled for unveiling to the public on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos. According to the publishing company, Posterity Media, the event, which would be chaired

by the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY Media Group and ARISE TV Networks, Mr Nduka Obaigbena, would also feature a colloquium on the forthcoming national elections with the theme; 2015 Elections and the Prospects of a New Nigeria. The President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina is billed to review the book. The writer, according to the publishing company, has put over twenty-four years into journalism, and holds a Bachelors degree in English and Literature from University of Benin, Benin City (1990), and a Masters degree, Public Administration from the University of Lagos, Akoka, (1998).

Onwuliri tasks FG on unveiling projects in Imo Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

he Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, has challenged heads of Federal Government ministries and parastatals to adequately identify all projects carried out by the Federal Government in Imo state. Onwuliri, who gave the charge at a meeting she held with association of heads of Federal Government ministries and parastatals at the Federal Secretariat, Owerri, observed that most of the projects executed by the Federal Government in Imo were not properly showcased for identification. She urged the heads of the various Federal Government agencies, to ensure they live up to their responsibilities in letting Imo people know the various development laudable projects executed by the Federal Government in the state.

According to her, the lack of publicity of these projects created loop holes, which the state government cashed in on to hijack some projects as well as present the FG as having done nothing for the people of the state. She identified some of the projects executed by the Federal Government in the state, to include the new ICT Centre and new Faculty of Law Building in Imo State University, Owerri recently commissioned by her, as well as the Administrative Building and Laboratory built at the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo. Also built by the Federal Government, she stated, is the School of Environmental Technology, Department of Dental Technology and Engineering Department, all in FUTO; the twin storey classroom building sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education through UBEC in the 305 wards in the state.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro MILLIONAIRE ROBBER

A trader at Alaba Market in Lagos, who embraced robbery because it is more lucrative, got N35m from two operations Shola Adefuwa

trader at Alaba International Market, Lagos State, has disclosed how he organised a bank robbery that netted his gang N100 million. The suspect, John Nnamdi, is a member of an eight-mangang which also stormed a bank in Benin Republic and stole money equivalent to N35 million. The gang used to rob in other West African countries. Nnamdi was arrested after the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, received a tip-off that the gang was planning to execute another robbery. Other members of the gang are Samuel Igbi, Anthony Umeh, Chineye David, Uchenna Eze, Victor Anamalechi, Ifeanacho Igwe, and Desmond Obinna. Aderanti, who paraded members of the gang at the police headquarters yesterday, said the gang had once terrorised Port Novo, Benin Republic and UBA Bank on Shagamu Road, Ikorodu. He said: “The gang members also confessed to several robbery operations which had taken place in big cities in Nigeria. According to them, the biggest of all their operations was the N100 million bank operation.” Speaking with journalists, Nnamdi said the N100 million robbery occurred in 2011, at the Alakija area of Lagos. He said his own share was N28 million. Nnamdi disclosed that he used to sell musical instruments at the Alaba International Market. It was while he was a trader that the father of four conceived and planned the bank robbery. He said: “The operation in Alakija was in 2011. We made

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

I organised N100m bank robbery, says Alaba Market trader

about N100 million. I got a share of N28 million. I was a trader at the Alaba International Market, Ojo area before I organised the gang. We have gone for about five operations. “We went to Port Novo, Benin Republic, to rob a microfinance bank. We broke into the bank through the back. We used two guns for that operation. The security men were asleep. We woke and tied them. One of our members opened the safe, and we began to pack money. I was given N7 million and the other four also got N7 million each “I bought a Toyota Corolla with my own share of the money. We used the vehicle to further our operations. We keep our guns in a compartment under the car. We have escaped being caught on several occasions.” Aderanti explained that on November 15, 2014, he received information of a trans-border gang that was putting finishing touches to a grand plan to unleash terror on the Lagos residents. He said: “It was based on the information that I immediately directed the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), led by Mr Abba Kyari (SP) to go after the robbers. The team

The suspects

Nnamdi

tracked and located the gang’s hideouts around Iba, Festac and Igando areas of the state. We succeeded in arresting two members of the gang, Samuel Igbi and Anthony Umeh.

“A search was conducted on the suspects and their hideouts. The police recovered two AK47 rifles, 11 AK47 magazines and one Toyota Sienna bus.”

Headmistress helps NDLEA bust drug cartel Juliana Francis

head mistress, who did not know her package contained drugs, has led the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to bust a syndicate of drug traffickers. The woman, whose name the agency refused to disclose for security reasons, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, in possession of bottles of Alomo bitters filled with substances that reacted positive to cannabis. She was taking the drugs to Dubai. The woman appeared genuinely shocked at the discovery and quickly told NDLEA agents who gave her the Alomo bitters. The suspect, who planted the drug, Nnadi Chibueze, 30, was promptly arrested. Preliminary investigation showed that when Chibueze realised that the woman was heading to Dubai for her personal business, he had implored her to assist him hand cartons of Alomo bitters to

his elder brother who sells the stuff in Dubai. Trying to be nice, the woman had agreed, only to get arrested at the airport. Chibueze’s arrest had made NDLEA operatives to begin manhunt for other members of his syndicate in the country and overseas. Realising the game was up, Chibueze said the drug consignment was inadvertently given to the head mistress in error. He said: “I personally concealed the cannabis inside one of the bottles of Alomo bitters. The original plan was to send the drug to my brother in Dubai through a friend but the consignment was given to the head mistress in error. “When I was told that the goods were given to the head mistress, I was greatly disturbed. It was a great mistake that she was given the consignment that contained the drug.” The Head, Media and Publicity, NDLEA, Mitchel Ofoyeju, said the cannabis weighed 130 grams and was detected at

the MMIA. The NDLEA Commander at the airport, Mr Hamza Umar, said that Chibueze had explained his role in his confessional statement. He said: “As soon as the drug

Chibueze

was detected, we conducted a follow-up raid operation that led to the arrest of the main suspect, Chibueze. He has owned up to the crime and the case is now being investigated for subsequent prosecution.”

News 11

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Two killed, 24 arrested as party thugs clash Taiwo Jimoh

wenty-four people were arrested yesterday in Lagos in connection with the killing of two persons during a clash between political party loyalists. The two persons were killed at Orile-Agege area of the state after hoodlums believed to be loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC). Bodies of the victims were deposited at a mortuary by the police. A witness said that the clash started about 11am when one Oyeniyi Raheem, a member of PDP, seeking election into the House of Representatives, went to Methodist Nursery and Primary School at Tabon Tabo on Orile Road. Another witness claimed that for unknown reasons, some political thugs pounced on Raheem and his supporters. Raheem told our correspondent that he went in company

with his supporters to monitor the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) collection when he was attacked. He said: “This morning (yesterday) some of my agents, supporters and I were at the PVC collection centre to monitor the process, but some political hoodlums refused to allow my ‘boys’ to go inside the premises. “As this was going on, about 20 of the hoodlums pounced on my supporters. They ordered us to leave the venue. Even some members of the public who came to collect their voter’s cards ran away when they saw what was happening.” Raheem added that even staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the venue did not help matters. According to him, while he was trying to find out the reason for asking them to leave, he suddenly saw people, armed to teeth, coming to attack him. He said: “The hoodlums were armed with guns, cutlasses, knives and broken bottles.

They attacked my supporters and even innocent members of the public were not spared. “My supporters and I were still at the Elere Police Station, where we went to report the incident, when I received a call that the hoodlums had regrouped and attacked my hotel. They destroyed my banner and torn some of my posters on the street.” The PDP candidate added that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Elere Police Station and anti-riot policemen went with him to the centre. He said he was shocked to see some of the thugs hurl stones and broken bottles at the policemen. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the attack. The PPRO said the police received a phone call from one Oyeniyi Raheem that hoodlums suspected to be loyal to a rival party were removing his campaign materials in front of his hotel, Swiss Orange Hotel, located at No 40, Orile Agege Road.

The torn posters of Raheem

He added: “A team of policemen from Elere Division was dispatched to the scene. On arrival, a mob wielding cutlasses, axes and bottles was seen. A lifeless body of a male was also seen lying on the floor in a pool of blood. “A total of 24 suspects have

NSCDC, police partner on violence-free polls John Edu

he Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Commandant, Lagos State, Mr Abafe Gabriel, led his lieutenants yesterday on a visit to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, on how both agencies can work together to forestall bloodshed during coming elections. Gabriel said the visit was also to commend Aderanti and his men on the brilliant manner security issues in the state were being tackled. He said: “The police have been diligently carrying out their mandate and we commend their efforts. The police and the NSCDC need to work together and outline ways to protect the people during the elections.

Aderanti (left) and Gabriel during the visit

“We cannot do it alone. NSCDC, being the last born of the security agencies in Nigeria, has come to seek ideas on ways we can work together for the good of the state and the country.” Responding, Aderanti said that the command welcomed

the request. He said: “In a time like this, all security agencies should work together to ensure the election is well-coordinated. Therefore, the security of the people should be the priority of the security agencies in ensuring a peaceful, vibrant and secured society,

Gunmen kill pharmacist in Gboko Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

bout five armed men yesterday shot and killed a pharmacist in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State. The killing also disrupted normal business and social activities in the area. The victim, identified as Ternenge Labe, was shot in

his pharmacy known as LaBet near Bristow Roundabout. This sent panic down the spines of the residents. Also, the Tor Tiv (the Tiv paramount ruler), Dr Alfred Akawe Torkula, reportedly fled the area for safety. It was gathered that after killing the pharmacist, the gunmen shot sporadically into the air to scare away

people and later drove off. Markets, hospitals and business outfits were forced to close their doors. Meanwhile, thousands of irate youths took to the streets to protest the businessman’s killing. It was learnt that there was shootout between the furious youth and policemen at the Gboko Central Police

which are their objectives.” The commissioner promised to partner NSCDC, urging political leaders to do everything within the ambit of the law to ensure peace during and after the elections. Earlier on Tuesday, Gabriel visited the Director, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Sule Haliu, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on how to improve synergy between the agencies. Haliu said that Lagos was a difficult terrain, thus help from any corner was important. He said: “We can achieve success by assisting one another. All agencies lacked all the basic logistics to tackle all crimes, but when forces are joined together, all difficulties could be surmounted.” Station. The youth were said to be making frantic efforts to set the station ablaze. A witness said that the Tor Tiv fled when news filtered to him that the protesting youths were advancing to his domain to attack the palace. It was gathered that Labe was last year sued by members of Private Hospital Owners (PHOs) in the area of which the deceased was a member.

Stop violent crime, JTF warns kidnappers, pirates Chris Ejim Yenagoa

he Joint Military Task Force codenamed: “Operation Pulo Shield,” yesterday warned suspected kidnappers, sea pirates and criminals on the waterways of the Niger Delta region to

desist from crime. The Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Major General Emmanuel Atewe, who gave the warning, urged criminals to take up gainful employment in the region. Atewe said those who refused to heed the warning

would be crushed. The commander spoke while hosting the new Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Mobility Command of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Frank Nyoyoko. He wondered why healthy youths would resort to

crime instead of taking up gainful employment. According to him, youths involved in criminal activities need to have a rethink or have themselves to blame. Atewe called on stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to join hands to fight criminalities.

so far been arrested and are in custody, undergoing interrogation as investigations are ongoing. Four cutlasses and one axe were recovered from the scene. Normalcy has been restored in the area through aggressive patrol and discreet surveillance.”

NAF offers to help INEC airlift election materials Flora Onwudiwe

he Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said its transport planes, Charlie-130 Hercules, were available to help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) airlift election materials across the country. The outgoing Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Olutayo Oguntoyinbo, said this while handing over to his successor, Air Vice Marshal Abdullahi Shehu, in Lagos. Oguntoyinbo said NAF had refurbished three of its major transport planes. He said: “The C-130s are serviceable and our aircraft are ready and we wait for the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, for instructions on what to do. Oguntoyinbo said that making the C-130s fly again was the most challenging period of his tenure as AOC. He commended the commanders who worked with him. The former AOC explained that in line with CAS’s vision, “the command was able to print its name in the sand of time in all its endeavours”. While urging all commander, officers and men of the force to cooperate with the new AOC to succeed, Oguntoyinbo said “we have three serviceable C-130s, we have spares and we know where they are, things are functioning here at the Logistics Command and CAS has done so much to ease the lives of people here”. Shehu was the Chief of Standard and Evaluation at the Nigerian Air Force headquarters before he was appointed the AOC, Logistics Command.

News

SOUTH-WEST

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Oyo State, OPS sign pact on taxes, gas emission

he Oyo State Government and the Organised Private Sector have signed a bilateral agreement on the control of gas emission, double taxation and water provision. The event took place at the mini conference hall of Agodi Gardens, Parliament Road, Agodi Ibadan, yesterday. Addressing the representatives of the organised private sector in the state,

Governor Abiola Ajimobi said government would not engage in any indiscriminate imposition of tax on the private sector. He gave an assurance that there would be no taxation without agreement with the private sector. He said Oyo State remained one of the states with the least Internally Generated Revenue as many residents avoided paying taxes. Ajimobi said the pres-

ent state government would create avenues for business development and give a sense of belonging to every citizen. He said government would raise the bar of governance and make it intellectually and issue based. He reiterated the commitment of his administration to developing agriculture by investing over N1 billion in the sector to ensure that Oyo State became self-sufficient in food

production. Ajimobi, however, appealed to the business community to cooperate with the state government in its plan to review taxes for the development of Oyo State. In separate remarks, Prof. Dupe Olatubosun, Dr. Lekan Are and a foreign investor, Mr. Chris Bates, all lauded the efforts of Ajimobi toward repositioning the state economically.

They commended the governor for creating an avenue for interaction between the government and the business community. In another development, the people of Oyo State have been urged to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan and all candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in February to ensure the creation of Ibadan state. Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory

(FCT), Ms Jumoke Akinjide, made the call during PDP campaign for Jonathan and Senator Teslim Folarin in Ibadan yesterday. Akinjide said that Jonathan had signified interest in the creation of the state and such would be achieved if re-elected and with Folarin as the governor of the state. “You should please go out and convince others to collect their voters’ cards," she said.

Ajimobi’s aide empowers Oyo people Sola Adeyemo IBADAN

ne of the political aides of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Deji Aboderin, yesterday empowered more than 400 small scale business owners with occupational items like grinding machines, sewing machines, clippers, freezers, hair dryers, among others. The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Social Mobilisation, equally donated cash sums to many of the beneficiaries, saying; “It is part of my belief that the haves should always reach out to the have-nots to make our society better.” He said the gesture, which cost him millions of naira, was borne out of his family’s heritage, built on charity work, calling on Nigerians to imbibe the attitude of giving in order to alleviate poverty in the society.

L-R: Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; PDP chieftain, Chief Olusola Oke and Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, during the state’s Artisan and Traders Union meeting with the governor in Akure…yesterday

Ekiti may ban HIV/AIDS test for intending couples Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

‘Don’t deceive kiti State government E may ban worship electorate centres from compelling intending couples to do with Islam’ HIV/AIDS tests before Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

uslims in Ekiti State yesterday warned politicians in the state against flaunting their religion for their selfish political interests, saying such may lead to religious crisis in the country. They also called on Muslims and people of other religions to collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in preparation for the February general elections, saying this remains the best way to integrate themselves into the electoral process. A communique issued at the end of a meeting convened by the former Deputy Governor of the state.

joining them together in marriage. The state government also frowned on the situation in which the result of a test conducted on a person is made known to another party without the person’s consent or when he or she is yet to know the result of the test. The Project Manager of Ekiti State Action Committee on AIDS, Dr. Charles Olusegun Doherty, made this known in Ado-Ekiti yesterday at the commemoration of the 2014 World AIDS Day and awareness programme. He said a bill to that effect has been sent to the state House of Assembly and would soon be passed into law. “The bill is already in

the House of Assembly waiting to be passed into law, it proposes a ban on places of worship from demanding HIV/AIDS tests from prospective couples,” he said. Doherty said it was illegal for priests or other religious leaders to mandate prospective couples to go for HIV/AIDS test before they would join them together. “It is illegal for any individual or organization, especially religious bodies, to mandate people to go for HIV/AIDS screening exercise. The results should be given to the individual concerned and an intending couple should be treated individually,” he added. Also speaking on the issue, wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Mrs. Feyisetan Fayose, who led the awareness walk around the major streets of Ado-Ekiti, canvassed for increased support in terms of medication and the creation of awareness against stigmatisation.

My name has been substituted, Reps’ candidate cries out Muritala Ayinla

winner of the House of Representatives primaries on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr. Festus Oyedele Adefiranye, yesterday raised the alarm that his name has been substituted by the party leadership, few weeks to the general election. Briefing journalists in Lagos, Adefiranye said he contested the Ile Oluji and Oke-Igbo/Odigbo House of Representatives primary election on December 7, 2014 and polled 191 votes out of the 495 total valid votes to emerge the winner. According to him, after he was declared winner, other aspirants had congratulated him and pledged to work with him to ensure victory in the February election. He added that his name

was consequently sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s candidate and that a certificate to that effect was issued to him by the commission. But to his chagrin, he said, some party leaders who, according to him, had attempted to rig the primary in favour of their anointed candidate went to INEC office in Abuja to substitute his names with one, Mrs. Yejide Ogundipe, who polled 189 votes. He said: “There were four aspirants who contested the primary election on December 7, 2014 in my constituency. I scored 191, Mr. Pius Akigba polled 13; Emmanuel polled 100 and Yejide Ogundipe scored 189 votes in the primary. “Having scored the highest number of the votes cast, I was declared the winner, because the election was transparent, free and fair. They count-

ed the ballot papers in the presence of everybody. So, other aspirants congratulated me as I pledged to work with them. Ogundipe was the first person to congratulate me. “Everybody, including INEC, DSS officers, who witnessed the primary, said they were all satisfied with the conduct of the primary election. INEC and our party also gave me a certificate to that effect. My name was also on the list of APC successful candidates in the state and Abuja. “But I was shocked when I received the news that my name had been replaced with that of Ogundipe by the state APC Chairman, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke. When I met the party, Southwest Chairman, Chief Segun Oni, he confirmed the news, but added that he didn’t know anything about.”

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Electioneering

General elections

Rivers

Corruption 20

NCC shuts Buhari’s fund-raising platform

No room for election riggers, INEC insists

Peterside takes battle to Wike’s kinsmen

How Jonathan is winning anti-graft war

Politics

Bamidele: Ekiti’s political bride Opeyemi Bamidele, a member of the House of Representatives, is being courted by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State as the nation prepares for next month’s general election. ADESINA WAHAB examines the factors that may influence his decision

peyemi Bamidele is not new to politics, even as a university student, during which he served as the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the umbrella body of student association in the country. In the botched Third Republic, he wanted to contest election into the House of Representatives on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Lagos State, but was prevailed to step down for another aspirant. So, when the current political dispensation started taking shape in 1998, it was no surprise that he joined the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Opeyemi served in various capacities in the AD administration of Governor Bola Tinubu and later his successor, Babatunde Fashola for over a decade before coming home to Ekiti State to seek for an elective position. When Otunba Niyi Adebayo of AD was defeated in the 2003 election by Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party experienced a sharp de-

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

Oni addressing newsmen flanked by Bamidele (left) and LP leaders.

cline in fortune, and Bamidele was among those who stood to keep the party afloat until the contentious 2007 governorship poll that Chief Segun Oni, then of the PDP was declared the winner ahead of Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress (AC) which AD transformed to then. The eventual declaration of Fayemi by the court as the duly elected governor of Ekiti State paved the way for the ascendancy of the party (now Action Congress of Nigeria) as the party to beat in Ekiti State. Bamidele had an acrimonious battle with Femi Ojudu for the ticket of their party for Ekiti Central Senatorial District. At the end of the day, he had to settle for the Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1 and he won convincingly. His battle with Ojudu for the senatorial ticket coupled with his rising popularity among party and non-party members, were some of the factors that led to the face-off between him and Fayemi. Within the APC, some people saw him as rising too fast and becoming a threat to their own ambitions. His problem with Fayemi started barely a year in the National Assembly, and those profiting from it made sure they fanned the embers of discord to the point that he had to stay away from state functions in Ekiti. In fact, the state chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe, was seen as a sympathiser of Bamidele and it took Awe a long time to convince Fayemi.

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

I had met with the leadership of the PDP, even some officials of the Presidency discussing several issues bordering on the development of this nation

Eventually, Bamidele started the Bibiire Coalition which later joined the Labour Party (LP) for him to contest the June 21 governorship election in the state. Apart from APC members loyal to him that were sidelined by the Fayemi group, his coalition also included PDP members who felt disgruntled with the outcome of the March 2012 congress of the party that was dominated by loyalists of Fayose and the former Police Affairs Minister, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade. The PDP members were mainly supporters of Oni and were led by Chief Akin Omole who later became the state chairman of the Labour Party. Before Bamidele dumped the APC for the LP, many thought the intervention of APC National Leader, Tinubu, would help in resolving the problem, but it did not. After he left APC and in the build up to the gubernatorial election, Tinubu did not openly castigate Bamidele to the disappointment of some people. Also, many voters, especially civil servants and teachers who had issues against Fayemi, saw Bamidele as an alternative, while the PDP was battling over who its governorship candidate would be. Some pundits said it was the emergence of Fayose as the PDP candidate that tilted the scale away from Bamidele. However, since the election and the subsequent overwhelming defeat of Fayemi by Fayose, some political observers have been clamouring for the re-organisation of the APC and making Bamidele

one of its arrowheads in the state. So, it was no surprise when on Saturday, January 17, Oni, who defected to the APC few weeks to the June poll and who was made the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the APC arrived the Iyin-Ekiti country home of Bamidele. His mission: To talk him into coming back to the APC and supporting the ambition of the party’s presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Oni got to Bamidele’s home at about 10:07a.m. and held a meeting that lasted for about 35 minutes with him and some LP chieftains. Oni also used the occasion to impress it on Bamidele to forgive and forget whatever misgivings he had against Fayemi. Emerging from the meeting, Oni said: “Don’t be surprised that I am here. I am here to pay solidarity on the need for us to have a future together. “This is not Opeyemi Bamidele’s affair. We are talking to LP leaders and whatever the decision is you will hear later.” Bamidele, who was flanked by party leaders, said the meeting was part of the ongoing realignment in the politics of the nation in preparation for the February 2015 general elections. He pointed out that LP had been under tremendous pressure from both the PDP and the APC for support ahead of the presidential poll, but denied that the meeting was a signpost to the widespread rumour that he was preparing to defect to the APC before the general election. He noted that LP, while not fielding any presidential candidate, would mobilise for a presidential candidate with robust political credentials and indisputable capacity to curtail corruption and insurgency ravaging the nation. His words: “As a career politician, we are abreast of the happenings across the nation. But we want to make it clear that the LP will take decision on the next election based on the credentials of the candidates. We will consider what Nigerians want and the overriding public interest in taking decision. “I had earlier told you that our party is making consultation and the visit of Engr. Oni was part of that consultations. A lot of things are going on in Nigeria today including political realignment which is an integral part of politicking. CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Politics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NCC shuts Buhari’s fund-raising platform

lFashola threatens legal action Muritala Ayinla

arely 48 hours after the Buhari-Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Fundraising Committee launched some of its platforms for raising funds, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shut down the Short Messaging Service (SMS) platform – 35350 – meant to encourage small donors. Director of the Committee and Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola had on Tuesday unveiled five platforms, including partnership with five

banks for donors wishing to pay cash towards the fund, the Electronic payment platform involving logging in on the APC domain name www. apcgmbpyo.org,the Short Messaging Service with 35350, the Ring tone and the Scratch Card platforms. Fashola had on Tuesday raised alarm that the

Federal Government has shut down APC websites. New Telegraph learnt that NCC and the Minister for Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, had ordered the GSM operators of ten codes not to carry the party’s campaign messages and desist from engaging in any activities with the party. The NCC in a letter dated January 19, 2015, file number NCC/CAB/ GEN/2015/VOL.1/004 and addressed to the Managing Director, Emerging Markets Com-

munication had warned the operators to desist from engaging in any business with the party for the forthcoming elections. Reacting to the development, Fashola described the latest move as attempt to deprive Nigerians of their inalienable right to freedom of association and to make choice of their leaders. He threatened to institute legal action against the commission. He added that before the platform was shutdown, 5,400 people had contributed N100 to the Buhari campaign fund using the platform.

“The NCC has shut down the 35350 platform for sending N100 message to the Buhari’s fund raising campaign yesterday afternoon. Before it was shutdown, 5400 people have contributed N100 to the Buhari campaign fund using the platform,” he explained. Fashola, who accused the ruling party controlled Federal Government of frustrating the opposition party in its desperation to remain in power perpetually, said it was improper and uncivilised for NCC to have shut the GSM platforms of the party to raise money from the general

public. The governor said the directive to shut the platform was tagged Political And Partisan Advertisements, signed by Mrs. Maryam Bayi, Director, Consumer Affairs For Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the commission. The NCC in the letter wrote that: “The Commission wishes to advise all Service Providers to avoid running political advertisements/promotion that will portray them as being partisan. The commission will not hesitate to sanction any Service Provider that will flout this directive.”

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

I50 PDP elders back Okowa Dominic Adewole Asaba

ver 150 elders and leaders of the Peoples Democreatic Party (PDP) in Delta State yesterday declared support for the party’s governorship flag bearer, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, for the February 28 governorship election. The adoption, New Telegraph gathered, was to weaken the plot by the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) to create an upset by adopting a sole candidate against Okowa. UPU candidate will expectedly emerge from one of the two rival parties in the state - the Labour Party (LP), represented by Chief Great Ogboru and the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose flag bearer is Chief O’tega Emerhor. Already, the duo of Ogboru and Emerhor have since last month, been

shuttling the 15 kingdoms that make up Urhobo land, lobbying to be the union’s sole candidate. The elders, predominantly of the ruling party, vowed to take their destiny in their hands. The elders, comprising 50 each from the three senatorial districts of the state, led by their coordinators, Chief Emmanuel Ogidi (Delta South), Chief Godswill Obielum (North) and Dr. Chris Oghenechovwen (Central), converged in Asaba yesterday and threw their weight behind Okowa. Okowa tasked the elders on their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), which he said remains their power to deliver him. He urged the elders to avail themselves of the party’s Contact Committee, headed by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Captain Pius Sinebe (rtd.) and Chief Benjamin Elue.

Ladoja promises to dualise roads

enator Rashidi Ladoja has promised to dualise the Ologunero, Akanran and the Bashorun-Akobo road within his first year in office if elected as the governor of Oyo State on February 28. He stated this at a campaign rally in Ojagbo in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area of Oyo State. The former governor, who was received by a large crowd of supporters, noted that the Abiola Ajimobi government could not embark on such people-oriented projects because of his wastefulness, noting that a government that spends N1.2 billion on reconstruction of existing roads wouldn’t be

able to pay salaries. He hinted that when he was in office, he spent N10 million per kilometre of road, while his successor spent N100 million but the present All Progressives Congress (APC) government is spending over N1 billion. He said a bridge constructed by the Ogun State government at N1.5 billion is far better than the one Ajimobi did in Oyo State for over N3 billion. Senator Ladoja reiterated that once voted into office, the waste of public funds will cease. The Accord flag bearer was also at Oje, Araromi spare parts market gate and Bashorun.

Former Minister of State for Trade and Investment and APC governorship candidate in Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom (second left) and Senator Barnabas Gemade during a campaign in Lessel-Ushongo LGA...yesterday.

Ebonyi: Two killed, houses, vehicles burnt as PDP, LP clash Uchenna Inya Abakaliki

wo persons have been confirmed dead while houses and vehicles were destroyed when supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) clashed in Ikwo and Ohaozara local governme areas of Ebonyi State. One of the victims was Ogo Nwakpu while the identity of the other

could not be ascertained as at press time. The two casualties are from Ikwo. Confirming the death of Nwakpu, the Coordinator, Ikwo Central Development Centre, Chief Linus Amaga, said that the deceased was allegedly attacked by some PDP thugs after the LP held its rally in Ikwo. Amaga said the two victims died following complications from the attack, saying some other people who sustained injuries are still in the

hospital. Amaga noted that in the last one month, over 20 LP supporters in the local government have been attacked and seriously injured by thugs in the area. In the same vein, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ohaozara Local Government Area, Hon. Chaka Nweze, has expressed regrets over the burning of the campaign bus of the Labour Party and houses of the party’s supporters. Nweze noted that hous-

es belonging to LP leaders were attacked. He regretted that police officers deployed to his official residence were not there when the hoodlums invaded the place. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Chris Anyanwu, confirmed the attack and the arrest of six persons, adding that the command is still investigating the matter and will arraign the suspects after the investigation.

I’ll make champions out of Ajegunle, says Ambode T he All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has stated that the kind of human capital and infrastructural development that his government will bring to Ajeromi-Ifelodun will make champions out of its people. He said this while addressing party faithful and Lagosians at a rally in Ajegunle yesterday.

He said: “I am so proud and happy to be back among my people, having worked and lived here before. My dear people, I know what you need because I am experienced in the matters of good governance, and what I promise you is continuity of the excellent service that will make your lives better and prosperous. The kind of sustained development I will introduce into Ajegunle will further exploit

the rich human capital located here. “We will create standardised recreational, vocational and technical infrastructure that will make world champions out of talented Ajegunle youths.” He urged them to make sure they all exercise their civic rights in the forthcoming elections, firstly by collecting their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and also by shunning violence. “It is your civic rights

to get your PVCs and vote; and, I am here to tell you to vote wisely for experience and continuity. As we prepare to achieve this victory, I urge you all to shun political violence both prior and during the elections,” he said Governor Babatunde Fashola presented Ambode to the crowd, describing him as the “experienced leader” that will unify Lagos much more, and also take the state to greater heights.

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

No room for election riggers, INEC insists Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that with the deployment of card readers for the February elections, the days of rigging are over for politicians. Also the ballot boxes and papers for each polling unit in the elections would be coded to forestall snatching of electoral materials. Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu,

stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu yesterday. He said: “It is not going to be business as usual; that era is gone for good. Anybody who is planning to engage in any form of rigging is merely deluding himself as the strategies already devised by the commission would checkmate such antidemocratic practices. “If we must live like our counterparts in the developed nations, then good governance should be the norm and this cannot be attained if we do not have a viable and credible electoral process that

commands national and international standards.” On the raging controversy over the poor distribution of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), Onukaogu said the commission had taken steps to ensure that all voters have their cards. The State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Adamu, said his command is ready for the elections. Meanwhile, the Cross River REC, Dr. Sylvester Ezeani, at a stakeholders’ forum in Calabar said INEC had customised all the polling units in the country such that no

snatching of ballot boxes or papers during the elections would be possible. “All ballot boxes and papers for various polling units are going to be differently colour coded. So, the issue of moving of ballot boxes has become a thing of the past. “If you think you can manipulate this election, then kiss it bye. We want to warn anybody who wants to make these elections unsuccessful to stay clear; it will not work,” he said. According to him, the commission has insisted that all votes must count during the elections.

He said that INEC had made adequate prepara-

tions to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

Agbaje to create employment through local content policy Wale Elegbede

he governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has promised to enforce a local content policy to boost employment in the state. Agbaje also said his administration would reserve five per cent of the yearly budget for selfemployment schemes for young graduates. According to the PDP governorship candidate, he would ensure that contracts awarded in the state bring profit to residents of benefiting communities by providing them with jobs. Speaking yesterday during a town hall meeting in Shomolu Local Government, Agbaje

said Lagosians would have the full benefit of contracts executed in their areas, adding that the PDP government will compel contractors in the state to engage the services of the labour force in the benefiting communities. “We will reserve five per cent of the yearly budget for those graduates, who are fresh from university, and this way, they will acquire the experience that employers demand of them,” he said. Agbaje, who was in company of PDP chieftains including his running mate, Mrs. Safurat Olayinka, and the state party chairman, Captain Tunde Shelle, disclosed that his administration would start a free health insurance policy for Lagosians.

Group faults IBB on Buhari’s endorsement

A L-R: Lagos PDP governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje; member, PDP Board of Trustees, Mrs. Aduke Maina and Agbaje’s running mate, Alhaja Safurat AbdulKareem, at a Town Hall Meeting with residents of Shomolu Local Government Area in Lagos…yesterday

No force can push PDP behind, Jonathan insists Anule Emmanuel and Mohammed Kawu

resident Goodluck Jonathan has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will continue to do its best for the people of Bauchi State and Nigeria in general. The president, who spoke at the Ibrahim Babangida Square in Bauchi as part of his campaign for re-election, said with the continued support of Bauchi people and Nigerians in general, no ‘retrogressive force’ will be able to dislodge the ruling party. The president told party faithful who gathered for the rally that no amount of opposition will also be allowed to halt the good work his administration is doing for Bauchi people. While urging the people to vote PDP candidates at all levels, Jonathan said his administration will continue to empower youths through education, skill acquisition

programmes and job creation so that politicians will stop using them to perpetrate violence. The president acknowledged that the state is very rich in agricultural potential, adding that his administration had therefore built a lot of dams for the state. He also told the gathering to ask those who are instigating the youths to violence, to ask them what they have done for the people. President Jonathan mentioned great Nigerians produced by the state among whom was foremost nationalist, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who he said never instigated Nigerians against each other. “The great man never instigated us against each other. He preached peace, unity and oneness,” the president said. He continued: “No retrogressive force can push PDP behind. We must continue to empower our youths through job creation, training and formal

education so that the politicians will not continue to use them for negative activities. “This state has strong agricultural potential. We have been building dams across the states to boost the sector. “The people who are instigating us cannot tell us what they have done for us. Keep supporting the PDP, we will work with you for more democratic dividends. Meanwhile, for the second time in one week since President Goodluck Jonathan took his campaign train to the Northern part of the country ahead of the February general elections, the presidential team was yesterday attacked by hoodlums in Bauchi State. The first attack on President Jonathan was in Kastina State on Tuesday where he had paid a courtesy visit to the mother of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Hajia Sada during his campaign to the state. Unconfirmed informa-

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

tion has it that about six presidential bodyguards were injured during the attack as the President’s convoy drove to the airport, amidst some broomwelding youths whose excesses were curtailed by security agents. At the rally, youths wearing T-shirts of President Jonathan and Governor Isa Yuguda chanted slogans of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. The youths in their hundreds stormed the popular IBB Square with various placards with inscriptions welcoming Jonathan but chanted “sai Buhari.”

socio-political group, the Northern Emancipation Network (NEM) has expressed concern over the reported endorsement of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari, by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida. The group said the purported endorsement raises many moral questions, alleging that Buhari’s first marriage broke up because his wife sought favour from the Babangida adminis-

tration. According to a press statement signed by its coordinator, Abdulazeez Suleiman: “Our worry is hinged on the many moral questions that surround the personality of General Muhammadu Buhari who was imposed by the opposition All Progressives Congress as representing the North in the presidential contest. The most worrying is the nature of double standards that are now shaping Buhari’s characteristics as he makes a fourth attempt at the presidency.

Kashamu: Why I want to contest Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ogun East Senatorial District, Prince Buruji Kashamu, yesterday said his mission to the National Assembly is to offer quality representation for the people. Kashamu also promised to revisit the agrocargo airport proposed by the immediate past administration of exGovernor Gbenga Daniel and realisation of the Olokola Free Trade Zone in the state. He spoke at the launch of his campaign in Oyingbo area of Ijebu-Ode,

where he urged the people of Ogun East zone to vote for PDP candidates in the general elections. Kashamu declared that he was not vying for the senatorial position to seek fame or acquire wealth. According to him, his intention to contest was borne out of the desire to alleviate the suffering of people of the senatorial district which comprises nine local government areas. He explained that he had empowered thousands of his constituents through his non-governmental organisation, Omo-Ilu Foundation, adding that he would do more if elected as senator.

Politics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Peterside takes battle to Wike’s kinsmen It was predicted that he would be accorded a hostile reception; some even said it was a bridge too far to travel. But the visit of the Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Dakuku Peterside to Ikwerre not only got a red-carpet welcome, but also the endorsement of traditional rulers in Ikwerre kingdom, writes WALE ELEGBEDE

hough Rivers State is a multi-ethnic state, the political zoning is however skewed to two; the riverine area and the upland area. Interestingly, the political fortune of governorship seat has favoured the upland area as against the riverine area, who had never taken a shot at the seat since 1999. However, the emergence of Hon. Dakuku Peterside, from the riverine area, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to alter and redress the perceived imbalance in the political standing of the state. With the contest in Rivers narrowed down to the APC candidate and a former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is from Ikwerre, a tribe in the upland. It was said that Peterside visited the traditional rulers in Wike’s homefront to seek their blessing and it was interesting to behold the Ikwerre Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers in Isiokpo, deviating from the usual by abandoning “their son” to queue behind Peterside for the sake of “equity and justice. Already, it is an open secret that Wike is having the backing of the Presidency, particularly the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, who is bent on returning the state to the PDP, regardless of opposition within members of the party over his choice as the party’s candidate. But the former minister’s village heads, so to say, have endorsed Peterside instead, a son from the riverine area of the state. Aside that, the council of traditional rulers, which comprises first class and all government-recognised traditional rulers in the four Ikwerre local government areas of Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, Emohua and Ikwerre, also declared Peterside the sole governorship candidate for the Ikwerres in the coming February 28 election. By the council members endorsement of Peterside, the coast is clear for the riverine area to produce the next governor and that apparently suggests that no other governorship candidate would receive the its endorsement, which means that they have asked all Ikwerre persons to support Peter-

Peterside

side. While addressing the council, Peterside said: “Ikwere as an ethnic nationality has a very critical role to play at this point in time in the life of Rivers State. As custodians of Ikwerre culture, Ikwerre values, at a time of national morale crisis, we expect the custodians of our culture and value system as traditional rulers and fathers to lend their voices of reason so that the people can take the right path.” Peterside, who is an unrepentant apostle of power shift to the riverine area, also used the occasion to preach the gospel of power shift to kingmakers; a path they chose to follow regardless of whose ox is gored. According to pundits, a Peterside victory in next month’s election is expected to be the balancing of political equations in Rivers State as it will engender fairness, equity and justice. For the records, in the present democratic dispensation since 1999, the upland people have been ruling and they would have done so for 16 years by the time Governor Rotimi Amaechi is done in May this year. Espousing the tentacles of the current agitation for power shift further, Fafaa Dan-Princewill, a PDP governorship aspirant, explained that, “In 1999, I was a founding member of the PDP. I could not contest for governor in 1999 because it was zoned outside the riverine area. Dr. Peter Odili became governor and it was expected that after eight years of his rule that it would revert to the riverine area. “But that again didn’t happen and we had Celestine Omehia for a short period and now Governor

Wike

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

Ikwere as an ethnic nationality has a very critical role to play... to lend their voices of reason so that the people can take the right path

Rotimi Amaechi. Which means at the end of this tenure, it would have been 16 years for the upland group?” He authenticated the claim that a majority of the riverine area were keen on ensuring that power shifts to them and any party that failed to recognise this agitation would likely pay greatly at the poll. “Presently, the agitation to have a riverine governor is great,” he said. Giving his opinion on what the outcome would be for his party if it turned deaf to the people’s desire, Dan-Princewill said: “I cannot speak for what the Ijaws or riverine people would do…but I would not be surprised if the backlash is heavy because it is a very controversial issue. The level of agitation today indicates that it could lead to serious backlash for the party.” Explaining the choice of Peterside, Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the APC, Dr. Davies Ikanya, said the supposed possible backlash was partly the reason Governor Amaechi settled for Peterside as APC candidate. He said: “Rivers State APC was divinely set up to address three principal injustices visited on some sections of Rivers State. One of them is addressing the unjust situation of the riverine areas of the state not occupying the seat of power since 1999, after the eight years of Dr. Peter Odili and the eight years of the incumbent governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi – all from the upland section of the state,” Ikanya said. The Rivers APC chairman also explained why Peterside was chosen from amongst other aspirants like Senator Magnus Abe, Tele

Bamidele: Ekiti’s political bride C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

“I waged a lot of battle in 2014 as a governorship candidate. I might not have been declared the winner, but it is a moral battle that we must continue to wage. He noted that joining the ongoing political realignment across the nation was not for personal aggrandisement or

political aspiration, but for collective interest of the Nigerian populace and Ekiti in particular. “This decision is not about Opeyemi Bamidele. I am still going to reach out to our leaders at the state, local government and ward levels to arrive at a decision. This meeting would be the fourth meeting I would be holding with the

leadership of the APC. “Likewise, I had met with the leadership of the PDP, even some officials of the Presidency discussing several issues bordering on the development of this nation. I had met with even our own dear governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as stakeholders in Ekiti project. So, it is about Nigeria and not Bamidele,”he stressed.

Ikuru, and George Feyi, saying although all of the four aspirants were qualified being from the riverine area, the choice of Peterside was “a symbol of unity of both the Ogoni people and the riverine and upland sections of the state.” There is a concerted effort by the APC to assuage what normally could snowball into a state crisis by fielding the governorship to the riverine people. In contrast to the sensitive stance of the APC, political pundits averred that the opposition PDP, without regards to the people’s agitation, fielded Wike, who has branded himself as having the capacity to deliver the state. Wike’s ambition, many profess, will make the PDP lose Rivers. Besides, he’s alleged to be losing the grassroots support that he once had. At the endorsement point of Peterside, one of those who spoke at the meeting was the Vice Chairman and traditional ruler of Akpor kingdom, Eze A.A Orlu Oriebe, who represented Eze Iriebe of Nye Weli Akpor kingdom. According to Oriebe, who eulogised the visit, he said no candidate, aside Peterside felt it wise to visit the kingmakers. “You are the only person (governorship candidate) who saw the need to visit the Traditional Council, and that you cannot go out there to tell our people anything without paying homage,” he noted. On all fronts, several factors are working in Peterside’s favour. Having been first endorsed by Governor Amaechi, he indirectly enjoys the power of incumbency. Amaechi’s insistence on power rotation has proven to be an added advantage to Peterside’s aspiration. But of all the factors, is Peterside’s own personality. One of Wike’s kinsmen said: “As one of the most presentable, high-profile members of the APC front row leaders in the House of Representatives with capacity to reach out beyond his party ranks, Peterside arrived on the political landscape prepared. “Just four years in the parliament, Peterside’s strengths are well-known. He is seen as focused, forthright, studious, urbane and a superb communicator. At a time politicians are reviled, people actually like listening to him, making him a man who cuts across party lines.” With his endorsement by his opponent’s kinsmen, and the deep love of his own people, the coast is getting clear for Peterside as the next governor of the Garden City state. He is the man favoured by the times and endorsed by all those who genuinely seek justice, equity and fairness. What party will Bamidele pitch his tent? Many people are asking. Going by his refusal to go with the then National Leader of the LP, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State to the PDP, indications are that the House of Representatives member may find his way back to the APC. At any rate, wherever he will move for the continuation of his political journey would be made public in the next few days.

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Imo: Ihedioha’s campaign gathers momentum Ifeanyi Mbakogu

meka Ihedioha, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and Imo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 28 governorship election does not have the resources of incumbent governor of the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. He may not even possess the level of grassroots penetration of the incumbent governor whose illegal ‘community government’ system has been used to destroy and displace the local government system. Yet, political watchers are bewildered by the momentum of Ihedioha’s candidacy even before he unfolds his campaign manifesto. Incumbency has always been a formidable asset in politics. Patronage aside, an incumbent executive can point to achievements on the ground to lay claim to re-election. Without a doubt, Okorocha will point to some achievements. But these achievements lack the pungency to guarantee sustainable development of the state; they cannot guarantee gainful, career-focused employment nor can they catalyse endogenous integrated rural urban development. Besides, Okorocha’s unapologetic disdain for accountability and due process are sure critical factors that boost Ihedioha’s chances, given that the platform on which he is running boasts of far greater capacity than other platforms in the state. We shall return to Okorocha’s negatives later. For now, let us examine other factors that account for Ihedioha’s rising profile in Imo. The first is promotion of the rule of law. Ihedioha has made it abundantly clear that his administration will mark a revolutionary departure from the flagrant abuse of the rule of law, arbitrariness and tyranny that have characterised the Rochas Okorocha administration in Imo State. It is easy to understand why the Imo electorate will find this promise reassuring. Ihedioha is an experienced legislator. He can therefore be trusted to protect the sanctity of the constitution by subjecting contract awards to the test of due process, something many insist, is in short supply under Rochas Okorocha. The same exposure compels him to accord the third tier of government its constitutional role and powers, and not to derogate same to a nebulous ‘community government’, a strange contraption, that is completely unknown to the constitution. Ihedioha’s promise to restore elected local government councils (Rochas dissolved the last democratically elected councils put in place by his predecessor,

Ihedioha

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

Okorocha’s unapologetic disdain for accountability and due process are sure critical factors that boost Ihedioha’s chances

Governor Ikedi Ohakim) sits very well with local politicians who yearn passionately for a return of local autonomy with its guarantee of self-development and control of local government funds. This is in marked contrast to the present situation in the state whereby Okorocha controls the local governments and their funds, through self-appointed cronies. Moreover, traditional rulers desperately clamour for an end to the indignity and intimidation that Okorocha has routinely subjected them to. Among the factors that are shoring up Ihedioha’s profile is the growing consensus, among the educated elite, that Imo State needs to rise beyond rhetoric to accelerated development. This should be noted in spite of the conventional thinking in Imo State, that the elite does not always guarantee electoral success. However, something has changed this time around. That is the character of the elite. In a fast changing global economic environment, Imo enlightened elite are interested in an integrated economic development agenda, that will at once create a harmonious interface between education, infrastructure, economic development and people empowerment. They are more interested in creating

the climate for capacity building and people empowerment (honestly teaching the people how to fish) instead of placing graduates on the dole, through demeaning monthly handouts without a secured future. To those genuinely interested in holistic development of the state, Okorocha’s programme ends at mere tokenism. It does not answer the question of the long term future of the graduate: Will he ever be gainfully employed? Does the graduate stand a chance of raising a home: marry, save for a house and buy a car? Or is he being equipped as a ready tool for political manipulation? In the case of a woman, will she ever be in a position to support her maiden home? Ihedioha’s promise of free and qualitative non discriminatory education, creation of ICT hubs of global standards, tax holidays to lure home the Imo entrepreneurs who have been alienated by Okorocha’s hostile policies, all hold the key to unlocking the growth potential of the state. That is why even the big companies will support him. So how does elite perception and plan translate to electoral support for Ihedioha? To understand this, we need to appreciate that much of the political behaviour of the masses–the so-called grassroots people–is

determined by the political preferences of the elite; political, military, business, religious etc. For most parts, the voters at home is tied to the urban-based or Diaspora relative by certain imperceptible but significant chords. There is a consensus among the elite that time has come for Imo State to migrate from what appears to be an unwritten charter with mediocrity marked by the mushrooming of poorly executed contracts, to value driven projects that can create a sustainable economic spiral. The impetus for this reasoning is driven, paradoxically, by the failure of Okorocha’s free education (a good concept though) to deliver quality results and products. But were we to expect any other outcome from the sharp deterioration in standards to the extent that many departments in Imo State University now lack accreditation? The secondary school level is not faring any better. It is a sad irony that Okorocha’s free education has no place for the critical human capital input to drive the process. That explains the rather disturbing disparity between the number of schools and the availability of qualified personnel in the critical subjects. Here is one example: There are only 87 Mathematics teachers, 130 English teachers, 92 Chemistry teachers and 113 Physics instructors in the 548 secondary schools in the state. What dismal statistics! Due to the acute shortage of qualified teachers, in 2013, the state recorded a very dismal performance in WAEC and NECO visà-vis the neighbouring states of Abia and Anambra: Imo---46 per cent, Anambra---67 per cent and Abia---65 per cent. That was unheard of previously. To the average Imo elite, this is a clearly unacceptable situation, a wakeup call. Remember the saying that you never push down the ladder that you used to climb up. In four years, Okorocha has systematically dismantled the rungs of the ladder that took him to Government House, Owerri. None of his benefactors has been spared: the church, politicians, friends and some say fund-raisers, especially Diaspora elements. He will surely lose the services of Senator Chris Anyanwu and all other politicians who, out of a common hatred for Ikedi Ohakim, had played major roles in ushering Okorocha to power. Today, all of them and that, of course, includes those in the gubernatorial race want him out of power. When this happened in 2011, Ohakim did not survive it. By some twist of fortune, most of those whose daggers are now drawn against Okorocha belong in the same PDP as Ihedioha. While they may not all be friends, except in an extreme case of self-immolation, it is expected that these common foes of Okorocha will combine their assets to see Okorocha off Government House come February 28, 2015. •Mbakogu, a public affairs analyst and indigene of Imo State, lives in Lagos.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion

Buhari Boosters’ Boogie-Woogie

Emissary EMEKA OBASI

emobas2003@yahoo.com 08094457557 (sms only)

eneral Muhammadu Buhari was a good soldier who made his mark in the battle field. And that seems to be the best many of us can say about his plus side. Please make no mistakes about it, he was not a fine plotter even if he ruled after a military coup. In December 1983, the Two-star general was in Jos commanding an army division when younger elements insisted that he was the one to lead the nation, as plans advanced to sack the Shehu Shagari government. And all through Buhari’s reign, the one all dreaded was his deputy, Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon who was later elevated to Major general. Idiagbon did smile, until he became Chief –of-Staff, Supreme Headquarters. Today, the former Head-of-State is sweating over something that should not really have been an issue. Things that were overlooked in 2003, snubbed in 2007 and did not matter in 2011, have been thrown up to dampen the spirit of the warrior. I do not see Buhari as a dullard. The hood does not make the monk. Spare me this talk of University degree. It does not make anyone superior. The best brains in the university do not always turn out to be the most successful in life. Now tell me if Bill Gates’ success has anything to do with his degree.I guess Prince Charles is the first English royal to formally work hard for a university degree. That has not made him a King yet. Those who travelled to London to pick degrees in Transport studies may be unable to surpass the standard set by Chief Augustine Ilodibe[Ekene Dili Chukwu ] of blessed memory. Some of our university graduates are as empty as the main bowl of the National Stadium, Lagos. Once, I was knocked out when a female graduate of one of our first generation universities asked me, ‘what did I did? These are the class that will be flaunting their undeserved credentials.

Buhari is a senior citizen and I do not rate him as a numbskull. When you listen to him, you will be convinced that he is far ahead of some of our politicians who occupy elite positions. During his campaign tour of Kogi recently, one particular voice kept tormenting my ears with ‘ladies and gentlemens’. Now, there is something really wrong with Buhari’s credentials and whoever filled the INEC form for him. There was some mischief when he put down WASC as qualification. Since he attended the US Army College, Pennsylvania in 1980, Buhari should have used the Diploma equivalent he obtained. His Katsina Secondary School background is not in any doubt. What is unclear is if he came out with a certificate in 1961.Today, that state is controlled by PDP so do not expect the principal to listen to APC. I also have a problem with Buhari’s army records. He was at the Mons Officer Cadet School Aldershot, England after Dim Emeka Ojukwu, Emma Ifeajuna and even Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Commissioned Second Lieutenant on January 26, 1963, his course mates included Shehu Musa Yaradua, Muhammadu Jega[ now known Ilyasu Bashir, Emir of Gwandu] and Chris Ugokwe. So what went wrong that the same Obasanjo would refer to him as a ‘field commissioned officer’ in the book, My Command? Maybe, something happened that affected his officer rank that he would then go down as an NCO. And unfortunately, I understand that Mons ceased to exist from 1972. If you ask me, na who I go ask. The matter when dey for ground, I heavy for mouth. Look at yet another twist. The Army secretary says copies of Buhari’s credentials are nowhere near Army Headquarters. And this same Buhari served in that office between 1978 and 1979.He replaced Idiagbon, the same man that would be posted to Borno in 1978, a year after Buhari left as pioneer military governor. It is hard to believe that a man who served as military governor, Petroleum minister ,military secretary and Head-of-State, would have nothing upstairs. Far from it. But you know, this is politics and opponents could hit below the belt. Somebody said Buhari should brace up for more challenges. That Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Umaru Dikko and the trio of Bartholomew Owoh, Bernard Ogedegbe

and Akanni Ojulope are working round the country, in spirit. Afro beat King Olufela was jailed 10 years by the Justice Gregory Okoro-Idogu tribunal, on November 8, 1984. Found guilty of illegal possession of foreign currency,he was fined N2,000,and forfeited the 1,600 pounds sterling seized from him at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on his way out of the country. On April 26, 1986, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida released him. Okoro-Idogu was later retired. Umaru Dikko was lucky not have been crated back to Nigeria after he was kidnapped in the UK, by the quartet of Israeli agents Felix Abitbol, Dr. Lev-Arie Shapiro, Alex Barak and Nigeria army Intelligence officer, Maj. Mohammed Yusuf. Thanks to eagle eyed British customs officer, Charles Morrow, the plot was aborted at the Stansted Airport Cargo terminal in 1984. All four were jailed and diplomatic ties between Nigeria and Britain were strained for two years. Owoh, Ogedegbe and Ojulope were shot in Lagos on April 10, 1985 over cocaine issues that did not carry the death penalty when they were arrested .Moments before they were silenced, they cursed those who subjected them to such terrible end. The dead do not forgive. Thank God Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson are alive. They can forgive. Jailed one year each on July 4, 1984, under Decree 4, they served the sentence and left the prison yard on March 3, 1985. Babangida granted them state pardon on January 6, 1986. Thompson has forgiven the past and that is good for Buhari. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. All those who sat with Buhari in the Supreme Military Council can not take responsibility for all these actions. And I think, Buhari may have to continue to suffer for all those collective decisions.It is good to see him today as a democrat, wearing agbada, efe Ishiagu, Resource Control hat and even worshipping with Pastor Enoch Adeboye. I am sure Buhari has changed now. Like Abraham Lincoln, failure will be the backdoor to his success. Buhari is not too old to rule. Robert Mugabe is there in Zimbabwe ,in his 90s. Queen Elizabeth has been on the English throne and is not getting too old. Buhari will rule Nigeria in 2019. And I mean it, from the bottom of my heart. I volunteer to be his Campaign manager.

The problem with Buhari’s candidacy Jason Oguejiofor

t was the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who once said, in answer to the late zik’s assertion that we should forget our differences, that it was better instead for us to understand our differences, as a more sustainable path to nation-building. Awo’s argument was that it was difficult to wish away our differences because they did, in fact, exist and that, in the end, a man would be a good Yoruba man, or Igbo man or Hausa man first before identifying himself or being identified as a good Nigerian. One couldn’t agree more with Chief Awolowo. For, every one of us, indeed, comes from a tribe--from President Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari. The problem arises when, because of several factors, including lack of personal depth and appreciation of the demands of co-existence in a plural society, we allow our tribal sentiments to becloud our sense of duty and obligations to, and respect of, others with whom we share a common destiny as citizens of one country. It becomes even more tragic, for both the individual and country, if the one who has such limited understanding of life outside his or her tribal domain is an aspiring national leader. That is the problem I find with the candidacy of APC presidential flag bearer,

Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, the fact that, by actions and utterance, he seems to exhibit scant national sentiments. With all due respect, the man, in my view, is too much of a sectional hero, a self-righteous, haughty I-don’t-give-adamn-about-others-and-what-they-thinkabout-me kind of guy, a poster child of Arewa irredentism who sees others as cultural and religious inferiors for whom the desert (born-to-rule) princes on whom the good lord has imposed the task of superintending the sprawling giant in the sun, should harbour nothing but disdain. The examples are legion--of how Buhari has demonstrated over time, in actions and words, that he lacks the the sentiments of a national leader and the predisposition, even grooming, to work with others and treat them as equal partners in a plural setup such as ours. Dr. Femi Aribisala eloquently captured what he called ‘Buhari’s crimes’in his Tuesday column in Vanguard which ran under the broader headline ‘Time to disgrace the self-appointed godfather of the South-West. I will borrow a lot of the examples in that write-up. But, first, let me start from the one I know very well. Gabriel Owoh and I were classmates and friends in Community Secondary School, Udi, Enugu State, way back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. His elder bother, the quiet, good looking Bartholomew Owoh

used to come visiting and Gabe, as we used to call him, would call us his friends to come greet his brother. Imagine, then, the anguish all of us, Gabe’s friends that is, felt when Buhari’s high-handed military government, acting on an obnoxious, retroactive law, snuffed the life out of the young man for drug trafficking, acting on the provision of an obnoxious, retroactive law! It’s like making a law in 2016 to punish a crime committed this year, just to make so-called examples of three hapless young men who probably didn’t know what they were getting into. And you know why? Because Saudi Arabia after which Buhari wanted to model Nigerian law and jurisprudence, had already started beheading drug traffickers and the Buhari military junta wanted to assure the headquarters of world Islam that Nigeria was ‘on course’, even if it meant wasting human lives. Alex Ekwueme was Vice President to Alhaji Shehu Shagari ( the old man has, by the way, conducted himself rather admirably former president and elder statesman). After he overthrew Shagari’s government, Buhari, in a most grotesque reversal of roles, sent Ekwueme who had no executive powers to award contracts or steal money, to Ikoyi maximum prison while Shagari was kept under house arrest in a government guest house in the same Ikoyi. He sentenced Jim Nwobodo, Sam Mbakwe, then governors of Anambra and Imo States to

hundreds of years in prison on charges of corruption that were not properly investigated. Similarly, he jailed cerebral Professor Ambrose Alli, then governor of Bendel State and Bisi Onabanjo of Ogun State; both of them never recovered from the ill-treatment meted out to them in prison by Buhari’s soldiers. He sent the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who never held public office, to Kirikiri Maximum Prison where he was until the Babangida coup of August 1985. The late Michael Ajasin, the first executive governor of old Ondo State was kept in Prison even after they were discharged and acquitted by the same court set up by Buhari to try politicians for corruption. Aribisala recalls that while Buhari jailed the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti for ‘non-declaration’ of foreign currencies he had legitimately obtained for the upkeep of his band abroad, he conveniently allowed the Emir of Gwandu, a prince of the Caliphate, to bring in 53 suitcases whose contents were not declared to customs, while a currencychange exercise was going on in the country. “He did not just brutalize Chief (Olu) Awotesu (Shagari’s minister of state for agriculture who was detained for nearly two years without trial) and his family,” Aribisala further wrote. • Oguejiofor, a public affairs analyst, lives in Lagos.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

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The death penalty debate

few days ago, four young men- Williams Owodo, 33, Sopunchi Obed, 27, Christopher Tobi Okolie and Monday Ilade Prosper, 28, were arrested, tried and sentenced to death at different times by different courts over allegation of murder, regained their freedom. The quartet have one thing in common-they were all underage at the time they were arrested and prosecuted for the offence of murder on which they were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. For instance, Owodo was 16 when he was arrested by the police on February 1, 1995 on alleged murder. He was subsequently prosecuted and sentenced to death in Lagos. Obed’s case was not different. He was also 16 when the police arrested him for murder at Igando, an outskirt of Lagos, tried and sentenced to death on murder. He spent 17 years, 10 months and 4 days on death row. Okolie, was a former student of the Federal Technical College, Ilesha when the police came for him in 2000, accusing him of murder. He too was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging in March 2006. He was on death row for 14 years.

On the fateful day, Prosper drove his boss to the bank and upon withdrawal of some cash, he snatched the money from his boss having thrown sand on his face, took the exact money he was being owed and returned the balance to the man Prosper’s case was different. It is a miscarriage of justice as the convict who was a driver was accused of robbing his boss with offensive weapon. His story was that his boss had owed him about three months salary which he could not persuade his boss to pay after several repeated demands. On the fateful day, Prosper drove his boss to the bank and upon withdrawal of some cash, he snatched the money from his boss having thrown sand on his face, took the exact money he was being owed and returned the balance to the man. Shortly after, the matter was

reported to the police and he was arrested and charged on armed robbery related offence. He was 18 when he was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to death by hanging. He has spent 9 years on death row. Although he was discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal, Prosper is still in prison. Today, these juvenile who are now adults, have regained their freedom following the effort of a non-governmental organization, Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) which took over their cases by challenging their death sentence on appeal. Prosper, Okolie, Obed, and Owodo, who all spent their youthful years on death row would not forget the trauma those wasted years brought upon them by a faulty judicial process of wrongful convictions. LEDAP has over the years carried out its campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by focusing on individual cases of injustice through direct free legal assistance to death row inmates, supporting work for death penalty repeal efforts through the states’ Houses of Assembly and educating stakeholders and the public on the fatally flawed nature of the Nigeria Criminal Justice System. It is obvious that the quartet

of Okolie, Obed, Prosper and Owodo would have been executed on a flawed Criminal Justice System were LEDAP not readily at hand to lodge appeals on their behalf. Following LEDAP’s appeal, the higher court invalidated their conviction and death sentence. Today, figures especially from the Nigerian Law Reports show that more than 39 per cent of cases of people sentenced to death had been upturned on appeal. Also, the result of a public poll survey on the use of death penalty released by the Nigeria Death Penalty Group reveals that death penalty had not been able to deter criminals or proven effective on trends in violent crimes. This is why Nigeria must join other 89 countries of the world that have repealed death penalty from their criminal system. Countries like the United Kingdom abolished death sentence from their criminal system over 50 years ago especially since there is no tangible evidence that death penalty deters criminals. It is time the Federal Government endorsed an official moratorium on death sentences and executions as the sole purpose was nothing but to end the cycle of violence created by a flawed criminal justice system that was tainted by human error.

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Politics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

How Jonathan is winning anti-graft war Danjuma Aliyu

he theme of corruption has unsurprisingly dominated the ongoing campaign for the Office of the President. This is because the cancer called corruption has over the years dealt serious blows to the nation and destroyed its basic fabric. Corruption is said to be directly responsible for half of the problem the country is facing, while it is also playing a role or two in causing and/or aggravating the other half.

That is why many observers think if corruption is nipped in the bud, many other things will just fall into place. That is also why many Nigerian voters are so passionate about the theme of corruption. No wonder aside insurgency, corruption is leading the campaign issues. It is therefore not also a surprise that the leading candidates in the February 14 poll have made corruption a significant part of their campaign messages. They believe rightly that any one of them who can convince Nigerians with

the best anti-corruption plan will get the votes required to be sworn in as president on May 29th. The emphasis on building more prisons and clamping both real and perceived government enemies into them in the name of corruption, is not the right way to go. Corruption is a cankerworm which has eaten deep into most Nigerians, and the best way to solve it is through advocacy and again through some systematic reforms, through the introduction of technological concepts that can block the leakages

in the civil service and government offices. The best anti-corruption policy is to strengthen the institutions, give them more powers to arrest, investigate, prosecute, recover loots and jail where necessary. The best way to do it is to grant independence to these key institutions, so that they won’t wait for executive orders or intervention to do their jobs. In saner climes, the system fights corruption and the president does not take credit for it. Looking at the subtle but effective ways in which the

present administration has tackled corruption in the last four years, it is obvious that President Jonathan has a vision to institute a strong and vibrant system, that will do the job without any interference. But it is a gradual process that will take time to be fully in place. For example, Jonathan has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) independence from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, so it can pursue corruption in the public sector without interference. Before this time, both

the EFCC and ICPC were not allowed to take on serious graft cases without getting approval from the AGF office. Jonathan has put an end to this. With smart policies powered by technology, he has decimated almost four decades of fertiliser subsidy fraud, saving N50 billion in a single year. He has revived the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to eliminate a major avenue of corruption in the public sector. This has resulted in the elimination of 50,000 ghost workers while N139 billion has been saved. Also, Project Aquila, implemented under President Jonathan, has helped to reduce up to 20 million litres a day in PMS subsidy fraud by using technology to track the movement of petroleum products around Nigeria. Aside all these, anyone who says Jonathan has not been tough and firm on corruption is also avoiding the truth. The only charge against the president which I will agree he is guilty of, is that he doesn’t make enough noise anytime he deals with people who are corrupt in the government. The president is a quiet man. He prefers his work to speak for him. Aside all these technologies and innovations, the president also recognises that there are some forms of corrupt practices that need to be handled with severe punishment to serve as a deterrence to others. That is why the president approved the compulsory retirement of a judge who dismissed a grievous corruption case against a Bank CEO before taking the defendant’s plea. Jonathan also sacked a judge who upheld the results of a fraudulent election in Osun State even though the Judge’s decision had benefitted his own party, the PDP. President Jonathan had also suspended a judge who had sentenced a man, convicted of stealing pension funds, to a paltry fine instead of prison. The bottom line is this: In this modern era, we don’t need decrees, brute force, draconian laws or ludicrous jail terms to fight corruption. If these measures were effective as they were applied in the 80s, there would not have been any corruption left for Jonathan to come and fight. What we need is to strengthen institutions and empower the system to deal with graft effectively. What we need is a couple of innovations and reforms that will change the way the business of governance is conducted. That, Jonathan is already doing. •Aliyu writes from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Culture

Media

Durodola’s book, Memories of Grandma for presentation

2014: Year of intense activities for National Gallery of Art

Arts

Torism

Our commitment in 2015 is to create a tourism economy for Nigeria, says Mbanefo

CULTURE

Nigerian theatre is a tourist attraction that can be developed. If the government pays more attention to it and more people invest in it, we can create employment for our teeming youths who are very talented Members of the Jos Repertory Theatre in performance

How to bring back people to the theatre, by experts Ebere Ameh

he fact that theatre attendance, especially in Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos, is dwindling, while Nollywood, the country’s prolific film industry, surges in popularity is no longer in doubt. The high cost of renting venues and lack of sponsorship have been fingered as the major factors responsible for the decline. What has kept the theatre going has been the passion of the practitioners, who, most of the times, after investing their personal money, run at a loss due to poor patronage. According to the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Thespian Family Theatre & Productions Company, Mrs Ayo Jaiyesimi, her love for the stage led her into establishing a performing troupe.

TONY OKUYEME tony.okuyeme@newtelegraphonline.com

“I would say that my father influenced my reading accounting in that he himself was an accountant and he was my role model. But one of the things my parents thought me, and I think rightly so, was that going into a professional field of study would help me to do better in my arts and in whatever I needed to do later in life. My love for the stage led me into establishing a performing troupe called Thespian Family Theatre and Production Company. We do plays, not just to entertain but also to educate and support charitable causes. That is our own little way of impacting and building our community to reflect the Nigeria of our dream,” she said. It was the same love for theatre that made the CEO of Mosaic Theatre Productions, Agozie Uzo Ugwu to abandon his pursuit of a degree in Law for his true love, Theatre and Film Studies. As an undergraduate of theatre and film studies, Agozie toured secondary schools and villages producing and directing plays. “My study of theatre is all about identifying my passion and talent and actually

rooting for them. I am living a fulfilled life now. I am happy with what I do and that is why I have gone ahead to study it up to PhD,”Agozie said. Speaking on the future of Theatre in Nigeria, Agozie said that it is evidently very bright. “In the near future I have no doubt that the awareness will be in the public domain. Theatre is not in competition with film, and as such the issue of it catching up does not come to play. Theatre and film to me have different types of media in transmission of their arts. Both borders on acting but the medium of conveying the art is quiet distinct, and so catching up with each other is out of the equation. Theatre as a brand has a live experience and magic that the film does not have.” For Jaiyesimi, Nigerian Theatre is a tourist attraction. “Foreigners are eager to see some of these plays that we have because they display the rich Nigerian culture. When it comes to costume and dancing, we are really very rich. Nigerian theatre is also a tourist attraction that can be developed. If the government pays more attention to it and

more people invest in it, we can create employment for our teeming youths who are very talented. One can surely make a living out of it if we can have interventions,” Jaiyesimi said. Despite the consensus that the future is bright, dwindling attendance to theatres has remained a major concern for the stakeholders and practitioners. Talking on ways to boost live theatre, actor and theatre director, Toyin Oshinaike, said that practitioners must first believe in themselves before others would believe in them. “I think we, the artiste, have that primary function to first of all, believe in ourselves. If all artists begin to attend each other’s production we will have the first crowd. I think it starts from there. More importantly, we should also take advantage of the social media because it is from there that we get most of our patronage. We should seize that opportunity. Most importantly, we are still praying that the government, corporate organisations, private institutions and well-meaning individuals should direct their CSR projects at improving

the arts and culture of this nation and by extension, theatre, which is becoming a vibrant cultural exchange product,” Oshinaike said. For Mrs. Brenda Uphopho, a producer with the Performing Arts Workshop and Studios (PAW Studios) and Agozie, the reason for poor theatre attendance is very simple – lack of funding. “Theatre has not received adequate funding and unless enough fund is made available, the audience will continue to dwindle. Nevertheless, the audience is not necessarily poor because anytime there is fairly adequate funding, the turn up is always very high. “So with good publicity, people will come out. And the good thing is that whenever people go for theatre, they never go back disappointed, they have value for their money. There is magic in theatre that film can never offer. The film can never ever compete with theatre because the experience you go home with remains with you,” Agozie said. Talking about her experience in the industry, Uphopho said she has written over a hundred proposals to different organizations asking for help to no avail. “You know what? If they don’t see value in it, they don’t see value in it. “To tell you the truth, it has been very discouraging. As a producer, if I had kept the money that I had used to fund theatre for myself, I would be very wealthy. I have had to dig deep, so much to be able to get these things done. And sometimes, it is like running on fumes. It’s discouraging but it’s wonderful to see the production up. If it is about the money, I won’t do it. People need to invest in theatre. It is an art form that we are trying to revive. We need to collaborators; we need other people to participate to revive it, to keep it going. It is a pity that something so wonderful, so well put together, so wellrehearsed doesn’t get to be seen by the rest of the world because of lack of funds,” she said. Uphopho, who commended Terra culture for encouraging theatre, also lends her voice in asking for more affordable venues if theatre must thrive. “The very exCONTINUED ON PAGE 23

Arts

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

2014: Busy year for National Gallery of Art

Trust Me (Welded Steel) by Joy Iorvihi

Oji Onoko

or the National Gallery of Art (NGA), 2014 was a year of intense activities. The year began on an intellectual note with the maiden Nupe Art Conference/Exhibition which took place in the ancient city of Bida, Niger State. The event brought together traditional artists from the nooks and crannies of the old Nupe kingdom who displayed different works ranging from paintings, sculptures and textiles to the admiration of everyone present. The highpoint of the Art Conference/Exhibition was the lecture, titled, “Nupe Arts: A Renaissance” delivered by the Secretary, Nupe Culture & Resource Centre, Bida and Head, Research & Documentation, Governor’s office, Minna, Dr. Ndagi Abdullahi, who asserted that the ancient Nupe people were not just the masters of Arts, but were by and large the originators of the Arts of ancient Nigeria. “The ancient Nok culture is now being discovered to have had its epicentre, and origin located in the Greater KinNupe of former times whence the culture actually spread to the Jos Plateau area where it is now associated with Kwai and Jos Tin mines,” he said. This was followed by the yearly NGA Children’s Day Art Competition which drew pupils and students from the Federal Capital Territory FCT) to the Women Development Centre, venue of the occasion in Abuja and the 22 state capitals of Nigeria where NGA has offices. The children had a swell time displaying their talents in all aspects of visual art and performance. Then came “Art of Friendship” initiated in 2012 as a platform for Nigerian artists to cross-fertilize ideas with their counterparts from other nations through their embassies in Nigeria. The “Art of Friendship 2” the second in the series involved Nigeria and four other countries- Republic of Czech, France, Italy and South Korea. The exhibition which took place at the FCT Archives and History Bureau witnessed an impressive crowd

Have a Seat (Oil on Board) by Uche Mbele

Minister of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke (middle) flanked by DG, NGA, Abdullahi Muku (right) and Chairman, Governing Board, NGA, Barr. Hipo Onwuegbuke

which included the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, Director-General, NGA, Abdullahi Muku, management and staff of the Gallery, the Ambassadors of the participating countries and their Cultural Attaches, artists residing in Abuja and numerous foreign and local art lovers. There were 40 works of art on display, comprising paintings, mix-media, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. The Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja later played host to the NGA 5th National Visual Arts Competition/Awards in the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Professional categories. The exhibited works showed great promise from the budding artists. The winners were rewarded with cash prizes as incentive to do more and a motivation for

others to strive for excellence. The train then moved to Kaduna for the second edition of the NGA in-house exhibition, tagged, “Together Again” at the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Club with the apt theme of peaceful co-existence and unity among Nigerians. The exhibiting artists were more than grateful for the opportunity to showcase their works by NGA. The Art Fair was inaugurated by NGA last year in a deliberate move to encourage professional artists in its employ to produce works for public exhibitions thereby sharpening their skills and developing bodies of works just like their peers in studio practice. The Art fair equally took place in Enugu

for most of the NGA artists in the South East zone. Elated by the quality of the 42 works on display by the 32 in-house artists, the NGA Director General who sees the initiative as a balancing act, stated: “As reflected in the creative evidence before our very eyes, these artists who have never faltered in their daily administrative duties have also not forgotten all it takes to keep the sustenance of their professional discipline in motion and tempo.” But the peak of it all for NGA this year was the unveiling of the Abuja Biennial Logo at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, which heralds the hosting of the Abuja Biennial in the last quarter of 2015 in the Federal Capital. According to Barrister Hipo Onwuegbuke, Board Chairman, NGA, the logo is not just a design but a symbolic representation of a global convergence of artists, art scholars, enthusiasts and more on the city of Abuja. The Minister of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke put it succinctly: “The unveiling of the Abuja Biennial Logo is just a route; a modest ceremony ladened with expectations of the eventual creative enterprise. Beyond the unveiling lies the actual Abuja Biennial, a global event that will assemble the best creative minds from all over the world on the soil of Abuja. The Biennial opens the double window of opportunities to international artists, tourists and patrons whose presence and patronage are capable of energising our economy.”

Arts

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Durodola’s book, Memories of Grandma, for presentation Tony Okuyeme

ne of Nigeria’s accomplished broadcast journalists, Funke Treasure Durodola, will present her debut book, Memories of Grandma to the public on Friday January 30, 2015, at the Freedom Park, Hospital Road, Lagos. To be reviewed by Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Prof. Aderemi Raji, the public presentation will be chaired by former Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Chief Mrs Mobolaji Osomo. Special guests of honour include, the Proprietress of Bola Immaculate Schools, Ibadan, Chief Mrs. Bolajoko Doherty, Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Samuel K. Uche, and Former Director General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Dr. Eddie Iroh. Durodola in a release said, Memories of Grandma is a “literary tribute somewhat to the no-nonsense approach to child rearing in the 20th century, especially in Nigeria’s southwest region, in an era when the disruptive pair of Information Technology and globalisation had not reared their heads. That’s the world Durodola was raised in. That said, Memories of Grandma will make you long ever more

passionately for the good ol’ days, when a stern look from a parent was all a child needed to stop any wrongdoing; and that, it saddens to

admit, is a world today’s kids are likely never going to experience”. Currently the General Manager of Radio One FM (103.5), Durodola has had a consistently shining career in Nigeria’s media terrain. Over the years, she has worked extensively on health, women, children and youth-related projects. She has held appointments as Country Producer &Trainer with UN IRIN RADIO on a five-nation project along the West African Corridor. Durodola has also worked with UNICEF and other NGOs in Nigeria advocating for children and better participation of women in politics amongst other interests. A Certified Media Trainer and recipient of national and international media awards, including the Nigerian Media Merit Award, Durodola has also been a finalist in the CNN/ Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Awards. In 2008, she won an International Fellowship from Radio Netherlands Training Centre and the competitive CBA/ Thomson Foundation Fellowship on

International Broadcast Journalism three years earlier. She is a fellow of the Thomson Foundation (UK) and a semi-finalist of the Yale University World Fellows Programme and earned a second degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, South Africa. Durodola is one of the fortunate few who enjoyed that rare privilege of meeting all their four grandparents alive and subsequently bonded with them. But of the quartet, it is Durodola’s maternal grandma who helped to nurture the middle-class town girl into a culturally aware adolescent. Memories of Grandma are the author’s recollections of a noteworthy childhood lived with her parents in Ijebu Ode and vacations spent in Ode Omu, her maternal grandparents’ rural homestead. Written from the point of view of a curious teenager, the book shows Durodola’s journey of cultural immersion in a world far removed from the westernized settings of a conventional school and one in which her grandma is the ever-willing tutor and coach.

Memories of Grandma is a “literary tribute somewhat to the no-nonsense approach to child rearing in the 20th century, especially in Nigeria’s southwest region

How to bring back people to the theatre CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

pensive venues as we have in Lagos, is one of the things that discourage theatre. When you are spending so much money on the venue, you won’t have enough left for outreach, to be able to get people to come and watch it. And sponsors don’t think that this is something that is viable for them. But most times, art is not for viability, art is for life. We need people to come into the market. If you see any big production today, more often than not, it is self-funded and most times, they don’t make their money back,” Uphopho noted. Jaiyesimi called for support for the theatre, adding that having more of theatre venues would go a long way in encouraging theatre in Nigeria. “That makes it a bit cheaper because right now the two main places we use – the Terra Kulture and Muson Centre are quite expensive. If the government can provide more spaces and invest in theatre, it can be revived. “There has to be more investment in theatre for it to thrive.

Children performing at the grand finale of last year’s edition of Children Creative Station organised by the National Troupe of Nigeria, held at the National Theatre, Iganmu Lagos.

People should support theatre a bit more. It is tough, even for the artists. The film and the theatre are very distinct. When you are on scene, the director cuts when you are not getting it, but in theatre, you are really engaging with the audience. So it’s tougher for the theatre than

film. Investors should support and invest in theatre. The fact of the matter is that the stage is the place we can engage people a bit more and get them to really feel whatever messages we are trying to pass across,” Jaiyesimi said.

Comedian and On Air Personality with the WAZOBIA FM, Steve Onu, aka Yaw, also calls for support for the theatre, urging the government to salvage the sector by building theatres in communities so that people could go and act and

entertain the people. He asks that the government tightens our security network so that people could move freely, insisting that the last time you watched a play was the last time you learnt something. While the founder and Artistic Director of the Jos Repertory Theatre (JRT), Patrick Jude Oteh concurs with the idea of building more theatres in the community, he adds that the directors should engage more with the audience. US-based multiple award winning playwright, Sefi Atta, however, has a different view on the cause of poor theatre attendance. She said: “The fact is, you can’t force people to do what they don’t want to do. Nigeria is stressful enough. If they come, be grateful. I will say, in a place like Terra, reaching out to people who actually come in the first place, which they do, and convincing them to come back, has been helping.”

Tourism

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Our commitment in 2015 is to create tourism economy for Nigeria, says Mbanefo Andrew Iro Okungbowa

f there has been one area of concern among operators, stakeholders and investors in the Nigeria tourism industry, it is that of lack of funds for investment in the industry. Building a tourism destination or facility, especially in the hospitality sector, such as hotels and resorts, is capital intensive and usually takes a long period of gestation. Nigerian experience has shown that the banking and financial sector is least concerned about making effort to understand the nature of operation and the kind of funds needed to grow the industry hence no fund is made available to operators in the industry, and where they happened to give at all, the interest rate is at a cut throat level. Therefore, the operators have been unanimous in their call for a Tourism Development Fund (TDF) for the industry. Though the government has finally come to grip with this reality by approving a TDF for the industry, its final operation, however, has been shrouded in secrecy as no operator is sure about this, even though the ministry of culture, tourism and national orientation is widely reported to have stated that the fund is now operational. Worried about this development, the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, (NTDC), Sally Uwechue – Mbanefo, last year not only drew attention once again to the issue, but raised the bar when she advocated the raising of tourism bond this year for funding development projects within the industry, while also setting forth in concrete terms, what the commitment of her tourism body for 2015 would be, which is to float a tourism bond and make over tourism as a major economic platform for the country. In her presentation to a tourism gathering, titled, ‘value proposition – raise a tourism bond in 2015,’ she started by painting a picture of what tourism is all about and some of the assets, which constitute tourism assets across the country. “Tourism is about providing assets for people to invest in. But people will not invest in assets unless there is a revenue stream from that investment and a return on their capital. What are the assets we have in Nigeria? “Nigeria is blessed with waterfalls, caves, hotels, parks, sandy beaches, large lakes, and historic sites. Nigeria is able to offer a range of tourism experiences applicable to the general holidaymaker as well as the traveller looking for something off the beaten track. To invest in tourism there must be clarity on how people can invest their tourism dollars for a fixed period, how they can monetise this tourism investment and how they can see a clear path for exit or onward – sale of their investment if need be.’’ Six tourism projects Having established the basic foundations, she went ahead to identity six tourism, each from the six geo – political configuration of the country. My idea is to identify for investment, tourism projects aimed at specific tourists and to create an enabling environment that respects and encourages this investment,” she said, adding that, “once identified, I intend to put the six (specific) projects into a prospectus, which should be a document that forms the compendium of opportunities we are inviting people to invest in. To generate revenue we would need to achieve a world standard tourism experience. To do this we will target cooperation with those who have had experience managing emerging market’s tourism experi-

Dancers in performance at Calabar Canival 2014

ences and turning those into benchmarks that attract hundreds of millions of tourism dollars annually. The investors will be given long term tenure for their investment and where applicable, the underlying asset will either revert back to the government after the project investment period lapses or continue with the pioneer investor once revenue has been created for the government and a generous return on capital achieved for the investor. With this plan we can achieve Nigeria’s goal of being a tourism destination hot spot where people come to spend their dollars, yen, euros, yuan, rand, ringgits and British pounds and this is achievable within 5 – 10 years. But first, we must define what makes the world class standard experience unique to Nigeria. We cannot be everything to everyone from day one but we can entice them by knowing what they want and what their alternatives are. What we want to create is a must – have experience that meets a world – standard benchmark for these tourists and investors. Why tourism bond? We intend to launch a tourism bond underpinned by what will be a secure revenue –stream generated from a prospective tourism development, levied on departures. The bond will give us the money we need for investment in the six projects today and these investments will create jobs; careers, transfer of skills and the right product. The yield on the bond will recognize that we want investment and recognises where we are on the tourism ladder today. It’s all about upside. The way forward In 2015, we intend to form a tourism committee, and I would like for Mr President and the minister to form a committee with people with international exposure to contribute to the new tourism journey. I would like for Mr President to give them a six – month tenure to come up with a template. Tourism – a value proposition Historically, tourism is very much where the telecom industry was 20 years ago, and as a value proposition, it is an attractive investment. My role and the role of the committee is to answer the tourism question in terms of creating viable business opportunities for investments that enhance the Nigerian tourism experience. Being a business, we must not forget that

Mbanefo

Tourism is about providing assets for people to invest in. But people will not invest in assets unless there is a revenue stream from that investment and a return on their capital

investors must see appreciable value and a handsome ROI (return on investment). For the investor it is not just about a Durbar, a Sango Festival, a New Yam Festival, or a beach, it is about a sustainable business with handsome returns. Focus Nigeria cannot remain a mono hydrocarbon economy. We must create and exploit our other natural resources, which are our landscape, our dynamic people, our plethora of young people, our sunshine, our lakes, our beaches and our warm friendly nature in order to attract the billions of tourism dollars looking for destinations and looking for choice. Tourism should rightly be a considerable contributor to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As an investment value – proposition it is unrivalled. Partnering with others for tourism success Tourism is an imperative for healthy living and not just a pastime. Rest and relaxation are the cornerstone of any civilised society. Nigeria needs to ratchet up

this asset we have and make Nigeria open for tourism business in a meaningful way. Government should not and cannot do this but Government should create the right enabling environment and investment incentives that foster investment. Government owns tourism assets which are underutilised or underperforming. Investment in these is required. For 2015, we are talking with and partnering with state governments, oil companies, the manufacturing sector and banks to see what role they can play. We are looking at issuing a bond. We would like to partner with strong brands like General Electric (GE) and brands like AEG to create music venues for our youths. Attached to these venues will be streaming rights so both investor and artists make money and the world gets an on-line insight into what a vibrant country Nigeria is. As mentioned, we will be talking to oil companies to partner to create recreational experiences and similarly to banks on what they need for their staff and families and see how we can partner with them to build something bespoke that will be branded by them and form the nucleus for wider investments. In all of this the bench-mark is WORLD STANDARD. Nigerians expect so much more today in the 21st Century and don’t want to be cheated. Tourists around the world expect similar because they have choices and it is not ‘by force’ they come to Nigeria. It is my job to point government in the right direction in order to create the right enabling environment because Nigeria is a destination for Polo lovers, golf lovers, ecotourism, sun sand and beach experiences, music lovers, heritage lovers, people who love being around lakes and for domestic tourism couched both in terms of short and long term breaks. Others are interested in the history of Nigeria, for example, the Benin bronzes; our natural caves and waterfalls. Every tourist has a requirement and Nigeria’s other natural resource can provide everything. I want Nigeria to be a country where people can work, live and holiday, and it must be comparable to what other countries in the Far East, in South Africa, East Africa have to offer. Tourism is not a luxury but is a modern social imperative. Tourism is and must be a major contributor to Nigeria’s GDP. Tourism creates jobs, capacity and career opportunities for our youth. Taking a holiday to rest and be with family is extending our lives and building strong family units. Tourism creates well – being. All work and no holiday lead to a stress-filled life and short life span.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Zapper

MultiChoice cuts price for DStv HD Zapper

Muna

‘Actors, producers on Muna’s death

Entertainment Onwochei: We are resolving issues in Audio-Visual Society

10 notable members of the Nollywood industry who felt shortchanged by 15 of their colleagues with whom they registered the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, AVRS can now leave a sigh of relief. A board member of the newly registered AVRS board, Francis Onwochei, who spoke exclusively with New Telegraph in Lagos, said the 10 will henceforth be carried along, and that the board has also resolved to run a transparent regime by ensuring that other major stakeholders are in the picture on all issues at all times. We have it on authority that your board is working out modalities on how to assuage the ten aggrieved member of the original 15-man team that registered the AVRS, can you elaborate further please? You have rightly said the ten-man aggrieved members of AVRS. At the board of AVRS, we have put motions in place to clear out some nutty issues on what is going on around other pioneers who are not members of the (15-man) board. True be told as we discuss this issues we have to be very careful. I am clear focused as I speak to you about it because, continuously, there will be issues surrounding the information platform on the emergence of the collecting management organisation, as huge as dis one, Especially coming from the background of an audio-visual rights regime. We will be dealing with issues as it concerns our colleagues and other stakeholders including

users and abusers. So issues will continue to happen until we all come to the same page and understanding the processed that will help all of us to operate an enlightened rights society..

SONY NEME

What is the situation presently? We are doing our best to ensure that everybody is on the same page as far as AVRS is concern. The status

EDITOR, ENTERTAINMENT sony.neme@newtelegraphonline.com

What really led to the misunderstanding in the barely two months old AVRS? You know that there was an election from the original 25 members subscribers that registered AVRS and 15 were elected into the board. But it appears that the board has not successfully carried the ten that did not make it into the board, in terms of adequately disseminating information to them. Not only the ten, I think, we have not adequately carried the general stakeholders along. However, as a member of the board, all of these are in the pipeline. They are among the things we had decided to do before some of the things that are happening now. The process is on that not only the ten (aggrieved members), but all other members of the industry who deserve to have all relevant information concerning the AVRS, we are doing our best to reach out to the public.

Onwochei

As a member of the board, all of these are in the pipeline. They are among the things we had decided to do before some of the things that are happening now

allows us to have our Annual General Meeting, AGM, even with the original 25 members, as soon as possible, so that is in process. But before that happens we have to ensure that all stakeholders are adequately carried along, and subscribers are large enough. What we do want to do is to expand the horizon, make information to as many rights owners as possible and as many stakeholders as possible so that we can collectively manage it together. Going forward, we intend to take the ten who are not presently on the board along with us; all due information will be made available to them to a level that people will be adequately satisfied. Therefore, for the original 25 subscribers it is a learning curve for all of us. And we do intend to be as transparent as possible, so that anybody who is discussing collective management will see in truth that everything has been transparent; in terms of information, in terms of process and in terms of progress. And in terms of the analysis of situation in all that we intend to do.

2face Idibia, Funmi Iyanda, others partners Google, Channels

n advocacy group, Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE Nigeria) in partnership with Google, Channels TV, Facebook, GEMSTONE, GenVoices, MTV Base and Global Shapers officially announced plans for the election debate series, ‘The People’s Debate’, which will hold ahead of the February general elections. The Presidential Debate will be moderated by Mr. John Momoh in his first return to television in at least five years. The debate is scheduled for Sunday, February 1 in Abuja and will be broadcast live on Channels TV and streamed live on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM and online via a Google Hangout and on Youtube. The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday, January 19, 2015 at the Protea Hotel in GRA Ikeja with partners and advocates present. The promoters said, the debate series has been created to position voters at the center of the democratic process by reinforcing the narrative that elections and governance are about the people. It aims to provide voters with the information required to select credible candidates and hold them accountable once in office. In her comment, Funmi Iyanda said, “This platform is meant to constitute itself into an effective opposition to governance, not just at the point of election but throughout their terms in office.” They hinted that while candidates tend to shy away from debates, the platform hopes to create a groundswell of citizen’s demand for a debate. Meanwhile, citizens are being asked via various platforms – online, SMS, TV, radio – to show their support for a debate by voting on what topics they would like discussed. As of today, security tops the list. On the guarantee that organisers have what it takes to get the candidates to attend, Kayode Akintemi, General Manager at Channels TV representing Mr John Momoh said, “It is our responsibility as members of the press and as citizens to demand a debate and ensure candidates who do not commit are called out. In 2015, a debate is a requirement for campaigning.” EIE Nigeria also revealed that it will CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

2face

Entertainment

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

PKD unleashes first 2015 single ‘Where AM From’

Sony Music Weekly Radio Sampler 2015 —‘Week 3’ Delivery

KD real name Dubre Perekeme, is a Delta state born lyricist with a unique laid back flow that oozes of confidence allowing each line to sink in to the hearts of listeners. With this PKD is finally ready to launch a solo career with the release of his first official solo single tagged ‘Where Am From’ He has harnessed an underground following from past releases and features most notably the star studded ‘Break The Silence’ featuring 2Face Idibia, Essence, Sound Sultan, Machel Montana, Squadee, K Slim, Righteousman, Samini, Jo-El and Precision Productions.. The song is about the lure of the street life faced by many youths from his state of origin, Delta State in particular and Nigeria in a larger context. The song has a conscious undertone in the layered verses that depict the street life. The kick and snare heavy cut is produced by fast rising producer Spyke, an in house producer for Now Muzik, whose production credits includes work with Tony Oneweek and K Slim. Hip hop meets pop music, as the song samples the beautiful vocals of Nhlanhla Nciza, one half of Mafikizolo from the song Tchelete with Davido. The song, ‘Where Am From’, is the first single from the soon to be released EP, ‘Its Bout Time’. The Ep will be released independently and will be available for free download.

Orlando Julius remixes Ololufe

Julius

frobeat pioneer, Orlando Julius’ has begun 2015 with the release of OLOLUFE (urban mix). The mix which was produced by Jay Sleek featured Seyi Shay. The song put together and being released under the Now Muzik Recording imprint is a re-make of the saxophone maestro’s ’94 hit classic OLOLUFE. OLOLUFE (urban mix) is a collaborative effort that involved some of the best talents in the game right now including Joan Ekpai who was on the backup vocals, Eniola Akinbo p.k.a Niyola who co-wrote, Sean Stan of Vintage Sounds who mixed and mastered, and Efe Omorogbe who charted the Artiste and Repertoire direction of the project from inception.

Shaggy

Stories by Sony Neme

ony Music Incorporated has released their weekly radio sampler. The week three delivery, which was made available by Sony Music Entertainment Africa to New Telegraph, had the Multiple Grammy awards winner, Shaggy, South Africa’s Toya Delazy featuring Cassper Nyovest in My City; and Sia’s Elastic Heart in the mix. Others included are Kid Ink’s Hotel, George Ezra’s Listen To The Man; and Canadian band, Magic!’s Let Your Hair Down. There is also Eliezer’s Invincible, G.R.L’s Lighthouse, and South Africa’s X Factor winners, Four. A blow by blow account of each artiste reveals that Sia’s Elastic Heart (Radio Edit), composed by Andrew Swanson, Sia Furler, Thomas Pentz and Greg Kurstin was published by EMI Music Publishing, Inc., Songs Music Publishing, LLC, Songs of SMP, Mad Decent Music Publishing LLC, 12th And Spring Garden and Andrew Swanson Music. The “Chandelier” hit maker

oya Delazy starts 2015 with a bang as the South Africa Music Awards, SAMA, award winning artist launches the video & radio version of ‘My City’ ft Cassper Nyovest - the second single off her sophomore album ‘Ascension’. media reviews have described Toya Delazy’s sound as masterful blend of pop, soul, jazz and electro, which is unique and refreshing. According to Sony Music’s Roxanne Maritz, Toya reportedly explained thus: “My City is a song that celebrates where we are from, those places that brought us up to be who we

returns with a brand new single from her latest album ‘1000 Forms of Fear’. “Elastic Heart” was produced by Greg Kurstin and was first featured as part of the ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ soundtrack in 2013. The music video for the song – featuring Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler – is on a whopping 60 million views already! Kid Ink’s Hotel featuring Chris Brown has Bobby Simmons, Jr., Brian Todd Collins, Christopher Featherstone, Clarence Montgomery, Dijon McFarlane, Justin Featherstone, Matthew Featherstone, Tyrone Griffin and William Featherstone as composers. It was published by Tha Alumni Publishing, LLC, Featherstone Music Publisihing 101, Culture Beyond Ur Experience Publishing, Songs of Universal Inc., EMI Blackwood Music, Inc., SONGS Music Publishing and Pouvois Sounds The new album ‘Full Speed’ is due in the first week of February and the L.A based rapper has already teased the project through the release of “Body Language” with Usher and Tinashe as well as iTunes IG tracks “Blunted” and “Like

a Hott Boyy”. “Hotel” featuring Chris Brown is the official new single from the project and it is the perfect new reference as to what fans can expect from this exciting new album from him. Multi-platinum Grammy award winning musician, Shaggy returns with ‘I Need Your Love’ featuring Mohombi, Faydee and Costi (Dancehall Remix) was composed by Orville Burrell, Mohombi Nzasi, Moupondo, Fady Fatrouni, Constantin Ionita, Dimitriu Silviu Aurelian Publishers: Diamond Music (BMI); La Clique Music (BMI); Doctor Music (UCMR-ADA); Warner Chappell and Fady Fatrouni Most recently, the “Boombastic” and Billboard #1s “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel.” crooner in collaboration with longtime friend and producer Costi, joined forces with Afro-Pop star Mohombi and Australian singer Faydee on the new track “I Need Your Love”. The South Africa’s X Factor winners, Four, a pop-rock and R&B inspired boy band, is a family-oriented lads. They were only together for a month before they entered the X-Factor SA, but have already written some twenty songs. They are already dreaming of being the biggest boy band in SA. Their challenge lies in breaking into the music industry. Eliezer’s Invincible, which was composed by Kevin Kerr, Holly Martin was published by Sony, ATV Music Publishing Allegro (AUS) and Coyright Control. Eliezer is a television talent competition veteran who has entered several such shows in a bid to break into the industry. He has strong motivation though: having spiraled down into a life of drugs and self-destruction. A lifestyle he has jettisoned by entering X factor SA, to set better example to his three year old son. On the other hand, Canadian band Magic!’s Let Your Hair Down (New Mix – 2015), composed by Nasri Atweh, Mark Pellizzer and Alex Tanas was published by Sony, ATV Music Publishing, Peace Baby Music, Mark Pelli Music, Inc., and Alex Tanas Music. Magic! had an incredible run with “Rude” over the past twelve months and the guys are ready to start promoting a brand new single worldwide. “Let Your Hair Down” is the official followup single and the track being serviced today is a brand new 2015 mix of the song. Music video at 8.5 million views already: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=x5YP_oLcgpg

Toya Delazy releases ‘my city’ Ft Cassper Nyovest are today. I decided to collaborate with Cassper Nyovest as he is also very proud of where he is from and how he got to where he is now.” Nearly four years in the making Toya began writing

‘My City’ in Durban in 2011, when things for her, “Were starting to happen in my career… I felt so grateful to have stepped outside my comfort zone and moved to the “big city,”said the artist.”

Kyle Lewis from Dirty Soul Productions, who shot Toya’s acclaimed “Forbidden Fruit” video – nominated recently at the Out Awards London - was the director and vision behind the playful treatment that was done almost entirely against a green screen backdrop. After walking away with three SAMA in 2013 for her gold selling debut album ‘Due Drop’ and a 2013 Black Entertainment Television, BET, nomination for Best International Act (Africa), Toya Delazy announced the release of her brand new album ‘Ascension’.

Entertainment 27

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

CINEMAWATCH (Radio/TV/Events Guide)

DSTV

JAN. 23 — 30 HIGHLIGHTS

MultiChoice cuts price for DStv HD Zapper Stories by Sony Neme

ultiChoice Nigeria has announced an additional price reduction of 30% on its new DStv Single View High Definition decoder, also known as the Zapper. This brings the new price to N11,500 from the previous N15,500, and a total reduction of nearly 60% from the original value of N27,500. The recently launched Zapper is a decoder that transmits in high definition, ensuring that customers enjoy their favourite programs in crystal clear picture and sound quality. Customers who wish to enjoy its full benefit need to be on either Compact, Compact Plus or Premium bouquets and have a HD compatible television. The Zapper decoder is the most recent innovative offering from MultiChoice that packs quite the punch in value and output, considering its diminutive size. Reasons for its introduction, according to MultiChoice Managing Director, John Ugbe, is that, “The Zapper is evidence that we are on a continuous technological advancement drive. It is now also more affordable to watch our top class content in HD. The introduction of the Zapper was planned to coincide with the ongoing AFCON tournament, and a special AFCON HD channel; SS5 HD on channel 225 has also been created for football lovers on both the Compact and Compact Plus bouquets.”

Ugbe

Further on the value of the Zapper, Ugbe said, “Ordinarily, a product of this value should cost up to three times its current cost, but our aspiration remains to make entertainment accessible to as many Nigerians as possible, even in HD, hence offering the Zapper at the extremely low price of N11,500.” For the General Manager Marketing, Martin Mabutho, the Zapper is poised to change the way viewers watch television. His words: “Exposure to HD programs through the Zapper will only mean that subscribers are moving along with worldwide trends at such an affordable cost. At

MultiChoice, we are champions of entertainment and we believe that some of the most poignant memories that bring families together are formed right in front of a television. “We strive to make those memories even more vibrant and of course, clearer, as we continue to bring families together. In line with this, we recently introduced some intriguing family entertainment on Africa Magic; Windeck, Hotel Majestic, Calabash and so many more. In addition to family entertainment, DStv also has up to ten news channels on its line up, and the forthcoming Nigerian elections will naturally be broadcast in excellent picture quality through the Zapper.” Mabutho also explained the company’s commitment to promoting original African production, “We support original African programming, and in furtherance of this, we will be proudly hosting the third edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) in a couple of months. The AMVCA is our way of encouraging African talent who tirelessly create cinematographic magic for our amusement and entertainment. This event has grown into a calendar event and without a doubt is the best award ceremony in Africa” The Zapper is available at DStv dealer stores and MultiChoice offices across Nigeria. For more information on the DStv Single View High Definition decoder, please visit www.dstv.com

Oritsefemi humiliated

P Oritsefemi

opular musician and Double wahala crooner, Delta State born, Oritsefemi was humiliated recently. What happened? Those who witnessed the sordid event said the crown prince of Oniru land, Victoria Island, Lagos; Prince Segun Oniru saw D’banj and Oritsefemi at Eko Hotel, Vic-

toria Island, Lagos and called D’banj who entered his Range Rover Sport SUV. Then Oritsefemi opened the vehicle door and entered, sat at the owner’s corner, backseat. We were told before the musician could seat down properly Prince Segun Oniru shouted and ordered Oritsefemi to get out of his vehicle.

D’banj in Wax Dey’s Makossa W ax Dey has released both the audio and the video of his new single Makossa. The career-defining hit features cameo appearances including Nigeria’s D’Banj, Cameroon’s Tito, as well as candidates and scenes from upcoming Season 2 of reality TV contest, Number One Girl. Makossa is a definite club banger, inspired by a genre which Wax Dey has described as ‘underrated’, although it has contributed immensely to urban music of today all over the world.

The Cameroonian singer and activist was named as one of Africa’s Top 35 people under 35 in 2014 by Young People in international Affairs (YPIA). He recently received in Lagos the AFRIMA award for Best African Collaboration, on behlaf of the 19 artists who participated in ONE’s hit collaboraton, Cocoa Na Chocolate. Wax Dey gave an inpirational live solo peformance on the just ended Big Brother Africa hotshots. Makossa is his first release after the smashing duet ‘Forever’ with Omawumi.

D’Banj

Casts of My Five Wives My Five Wives Premieres on TLC Entertainment on Wednesday 28 January at 20:55 CAT Meet the Williamses, a progressive polygamist family who believe in love and commitment rather than religion. Despite on-going hardships within their community, this modern family presents a fresh and honest look at a very controversial lifestyle. Brady and the ladies in his life will face all kinds of problems in their marriages, especially when issues between the wives escalate. And when Christmas comes around, the stakes are high for Brady as he must juggle the affections of all the women in his life.

celebrities at the cutting edge of fashion trends.

Oprah: Where Are They Now airs on TLC Entertainment on Thursday 29 January at 20:55 CAT “Pregnant man” were the two words Oprah never thought she’d say before she talked to Thomas Beatie in 2008. Find out what happened after he and his wife, Nancy, were on that history-making show. Then, catch up with a stay-at-home dad who was raising 1-year-old quintuplets. Now, the kids are preteens. See if this dad is still embracing his role as Mr. Mom.

Candidly Nicole Premieres on Vuzu Amp on Friday 23 January at 18h30 CAT Nicole Richie: Entrepreneur, philanthropist, writer, actress, mother, and most importantly, fashion innovator. In Candidly Nicole, the outspoken icon brings her unfiltered sense of humor and unique perspective on life. Based on Nicole’s hilarious (and often inappropriate) Twitter feed, Candidly Nicole details her daily adventures while providing insight into her views on everything from style to relationships to parallel parking.

Fashion Bloggers airs on E!Entertainment on Sundays at 22:00 CAT Discover the hottest trends in fashion, beauty and entertainment with an exclusive new reality series that features a sneak peek into the lives of Australia’s top lifestyle bloggers. From a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how they put their posts together, via how they style their ‘outfit of the day’, and onto their personal lives and the unglamorous side of success – discover how these women went from blogging about what they love to become mini-

Lorraine Pascale: How To Be A Better Cook airs on BBC Lifestyle on Tuesdays at 21:35 CAT With plenty of deceptively easy recipes and fantastic tips, Lorraine Pascale shows people with no kitchen confidence how to pull off an impressive meal for friends and family. On one episode she helps 52-year-old builder who has never cooked a meal in his life, to master a delicious Mediterranean-inspired menu. Later on she helps a mother of three and foster carer, who would love to create homemade family meals but ends up relying on frozen food.

The Calabash airs on Mondays and Tuesdays on Africa Magic Showcase at 22:30 CAT New this January is The Calabash, a drama series exclusive to AfricaMagic. The series revolves around an ailing bank so desperate to avoid liquidation that its management employs unscrupulous measures to force employees to deliver on ridiculous targets set for them. It features an exciting line-up of actors like Alexandra Nwokedi, Colette Nwadike, Charles Ukpong, and Christopher Okagbue amongst them.

Funmi, others partners Google CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

co-host six governorship debates in each geo-political zone: in Lagos, Rivers, Imo, Kaduna, Taraba and Plateau, with the first one being planned for Plateau on Saturday, January 24 with the People Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress and Labour Party candidates. The debates are part of EiE’s flagship Register Select and Vote Project RSVP Campaign, which aims to get young people to register to vote, Select credible candidates, Vote and Protect their votes using tools such as the Revoda mobile application. EiE believes that if

Nigerians engage actively around these 4 activities, the quality of governance in Nigeria will improve

Funmi

Entertainment

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Femi Kuti remixes Politics Naa Big Business Stories by Sony Neme

fro Beat maestro, Femi Kuti has released the remix to his much-awaited lead single ‘Politics Naa Big Business’ off the album “No Place for My Dreams”, This remix features 2Face Idibia and Sound Sultan. This is Femi Kuti’s first release since penning down an exclusive management deal with Chocolate City last November. According to the Public Relations Representative, Chocolate City Group, Abimbola Oluwatobi, “In the midst of the election season Femi Kuti in his accustomed fashion passes a strong message to Nigerians. The whole essesnce is making them aware that the welfare of the country lies in their hands and that they should make informed decisions in choosing a leader who will put the people first and in the long term eradicate corruption.” In the press statement, made available to New Telegraph by Oluwatobi, 2face and Sound Sultan showed solidarity and share the same message in what they have highlighted to be a landmark to both their careers. “They rebuked the trend of voters choosing their preferred candidates on the terms who gives them a brown envelop or bags of food and encouraged more informed decision making in casting their votes,” he intoned. He stated further that, ‘Politics naa Big Business’ remix is uniquely composed with the best of both worlds as the multiple Grammy Awards nominee delivers an Afro Beat master class with 2Face and Sound Sultan surpassing expectations with their verses. he quoted Alice Walker thus: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking that they don’t have any”However, in Femi Anikulapo-

he death of Nollywood star actor, Muna Obiekwe earlier this week came as a big blow to the industry. He passed away January 18 from a kidney ailment. The actor had starred in countless of movies including The Phobia, Scarlet Woman, Not Man Enough, and more Minutes after his demise, Nollywood stars, expectedly took to Twitter and other social media platforms to share their grief over the death of the handsome actor whose fame spread far and wide. When New Telegraph spoke with a cross section of practitioners, reactions expectedly came in torrents. First was Big Brother Africa winner, Nigeria’s Uti Nwachukwu. His words: “I am in shock and awe! I didn’t even know he was ill. This is really sad news. I can’t bear to think of it for too long. A young talented man with a passion for his craft. It’s indeed a sad period for Nollywood. May God receive him in heaven above. For former President of Actors’ Guild of Nigeria, AGN,

Femi

Kuti’s new song, he wants you to know that voting honestly, counts as an effort towards healing a Nigeria that has been hurt by bad leadership. As someone born just two years after Nigeria’s independence, it is disappointing for Femi Kuti to look out of his window to still see an uneasy balance of hopelessness and helplessness in the eyes of beggars on the street. Worse of all is the violent hunger that most of us translate as “ambition” or “hustle.” From Femi Kuti: “Usually, when I hear my cousin’s loud voice saying; ‘Hmmm, you have to hustle in this Lagos oh! Na beans? The words come out with an energy that makes the Nige-

Worse of all is the violent hunger that most of us translate as “ambition” or “hustle

rian hustle sound commonsensical - like I have no other choice. I agree that it is not beans. And, yes, I do understand that the hustlers are the survivors in Nigeria. Yet, I still do not understand why this hustle has become the norm. “Obviously, everybody has their own definition, but if the word “hustle,” has to be a separate word from “earn” (i.e to be duly worthy), why should the survival of a new born Nigerian baby depend on the hustle game of his mother or father? Why do I have to push someone-roughly for that matter- to attain the happiness that we have been promised for 54 years?” Instead of finger pointing the

culprits of corruption, Femi Kuti uses a passionate and strong vocal outcry to appeal to the masses that seem to have given up on the Nigeria of their dreams. His new song, ‘Politics Na Big Business’, reads like those old cautionary tales I would hear from my mother as she begged a girl to be a good girl on her own integrity while unsubtly warning that unwanted pregnancy would be a sure consequence if she fails. Bathed in cool and sprightly instrumentals, Femi Kuti repeats “Politics na big business;” these four pidgin words sink into the mind as friendly but elderly advice as he begs Nigerians to hold on to the worth of their votes.

‘Actors, producers on Muna’s death’ Seguin Arinze, it is, “Sad very sad. Too young. Gone too soon. He didn’t deserve death. I’m short of words. May he find peace with God.” Mr. Ibu: reaction was simply, “Another fresh wound may God save us.” Mildred Okwuo, a movie maker, has this to say, “Shocking to say the least. We have lost a brilliant actor... A real actor.” A member of Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, AVRS, Francis Onwochei, said, “That is a sad loss to the motion picture community. Beyond that when any young person dies, it is actually very touchy. Especially for somebody who has contributed so much for the industry. Muna, as an actor demonstrated huge creative capacity, so his passing away is a sad loss. To emerging young actors that he represents, it is very unfortunate, and we pray never to experience such tragedy again.” in the words of Frank Dal-

Muna

las, an actor and producer, “Well, when I hear people say a young dude like Muna is gone, I feel very bad. Just like the Bible says, ‘There is time to be born, a time to die; and a time to sow and a time to reap. A young man finished sowing, and it comes a time to reap and he dies. We are mourning. The industry is mourning, because I am his senior. That brings us to the theory that he was quick to die. For me, it is like a bad dream; he was very respectful, very humble, a socialite I will call him. No dull moment. But who are we to question God?” Fred Amata went philosophical in his response. He asked rhetorically, “What can I say? You come to this world to experience life. You come to the realization that surely, there is life, and surely there is death. It is hard to begin to groom your mind about death with some philosophical calm; and no matter how

hard we dream, there is this assurance that we must die someday.” . Apart from appearing in five out of every seven by the Onitsha/Asaba movie producer’s movies, the handsome Enugu State based thespian would be remembered for his x-rated photographs with Nollywood actress, Biola Ige in March last year. In death controversy also cropped up as a fake ‘Muna Obiekwe’ gives up the death of the talented Nollywood actor, and the controversy that surrounded it was finally been put to rest as the impostor could not continue with his deadly game. . “How a man smokes and drinks should not be anyone’s headache”, was how Charles Novia, a respected movie producer, frowned at some insinuations, after a number of people attributed his death to his ‘constant smoking and drinking.”

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Agric

Labour

Strike: NARTO’s threat raises doubts over Project Aquila’s success

Policy

FG moves to prevent spread of bird flu

Agbaje: Unfolding new economic prospects for Lagos

Business What's news

N190bn broadband GDP input target gloomy Except regulatory activities are accelerated to execute lined up activities aimed at improving next generation broadband infrastructure network in the country, Nigeria may not be able to fully achieve its projected N190 billion broadband contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year.

p.30

Flour millers fret over 2016 cassava bread deadline There are strong indications that flour millers across the country are not optimistic about meeting the 2016 deadline on 10 percent High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) inclusion in the production of bread.

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

Abdulwahab Isa

TCN to pay N500m demurrage on 69 containers INEPTITUDE TCN to pay heavy penalty to shipping companies

Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Engineering Company, to clear the consignments on behalf of TCN were not successful as shipping companies were CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

ome power equipment in 69 containers, which belong to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) may attract over N500 million demurrage, New Telegraph has learnt. The consignments were trapped at the Lagos Port Complex due to bad documentation allegedly prepared by the shipper to scuttle due process at the port. It was learnt that the imports, which were shipped into the country in the last quarter of 2014, may be seized and moved by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to government warehouse if not cleared after 180 days at port. Just recently, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said that the government project-laden containers in the port should not be abandoned by government agencies. He said that such recklessness had affected legitimate Customs laws as far as disposal of abandoned goods by customs was concerned. A source at the port complex revealed that some of the equipment were in fifty-three 20-feet containers while the rest were stacked in sixteen 40-feet containers. It was revealed that the imports contained some discrepancies, which made it difficult for shipping company and Customs to process. “This was caused by the

L-R: Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs. Saratu Altine Umar; Former Minister of International Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gamabri; Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Head of Service, Mr. Danladi Kifasi; High Commissioner, High Commission of Canada, Mr. Perry John Calderwood and High Commissioner of India, Mr. A. R. Ghanashyam, at a dinner in honour of Umar in Abuja.

Mortgage banks begin loan payments to subscribers Dayo Ayeyemi

hree months after the Federal Government launched the 10,000 mortgages, the Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) have commenced the disbursement of loans to qualified 66,000 subscribers under the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company

(NMRC), New Telegraph has gathered. President, Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria (NBAN), Mr. Femi Johnson, confirmed the payments yesterday to our correspondent by telephone. Specifically, he said that some of the mortgage banks have begun to disburse loans to qualified applicants under

the NMRC. Johnson said that it was difficult to ascertain the number of applicants that have secured their loans but that the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would make this public before the end of this month. The MBAN boss said that CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Rates Dashboard

Kunle Azeez

Chuks Onuanyin

company deliberately, knowing that this would lead to problems during clearing procedures,” the source said. Also, it was alleged that efforts by a contractor, Destron

Bayo Akomolafe

Finance Editor

Senior Correspondent

shippers deliberately for his personal interests. This is not the first time they would do shoddy business. The shippers failed to define the consignee and simply wrote logistics

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. 16)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N192 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N293 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N223

l Foreign Reserves – $34.505bn as at 15/01/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official as at Jan. 16)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N169 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N256.22 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N198.48

Business | News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Transmission Company to pay N500m demurrage CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

reluctant to get involved because of the huge demurrage that had been incurred and the penalty by Nigeria Customs Service. The source said: “It will take three months to rectify the errors and this will attract huge demurrage of over N500 million.” It would be recalled that in July 2014, the Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, secured the release of 248 containers belonging to the TCN. The containers were meant for the Independent Power Project (IPP) and were imported by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in 2003. Also, in 2011, the PHCN abandoned 250 containers, containing vital equipment to boost power generation in the country.

Mortgage banks begin loan payments CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

people who got their loans were those who presented their 20 per cent equity contribution and have seen housing units they are buying into. He explained that the volume of processed loans would have been higher, but for the fact that many of the applicants were yet to meet the 20 per cent equity and the house they want to buy. Other applications are yet to be processed, he explained. “You see, many applicants have gotten their loans, while we are yet to process others. Some people are yet to get the 20 per cent equity and we asked them to make it up, while others are still searching for the house they want to buy. “Besides these two conditions, we also checked applicants’ income to know the amount of loan they qualify for to ensure deductions from their salary can be enough for the loan repayment,” he explained. The Federal Government, through the NMRC, had launched 10,000 mortgages last year, which over 66,000 home seekers subscribed to. According to Okonjo-Iweala, the Federal Government okayed the pre-qualification of all the 66,402 applications received, while the processing will take about eight weeks. “We got 66,402 applications. That is more than six times oversubscription of our initial 10,000 pilot. It means people are exceedingly interested and more are still coming, but we had a closing date for the first wave of applications and so, we have closed it,” she stated. Nigeria’s housing deficit is arguably estimated at 17 million units, with one million housing units added to that number yearly. It is also estimated that bridging the housing gap would re-

quire up to N56 trillion. The new mortgage refinance scheme saw the establishment of the NMRC, a private sector-led initiative, to drive government’s aspirations of affordable houses, targets to create about 200,000 mortgages annually. The minister also disclosed that members of NMRC have promised to complete this exercise within six to eight weeks from receipt of the list, stressing that once qualified or notified, each applicant can then begin to look for a home that is within their borrowing range. Okonjo-Iweala said due to the over six times subscription, a decision has been taken to give all applicants to the lending members of NMRC to share on a pro-rata basis. Lending members of NMRC are expected to have the refinancing window of up to 20 years.

L-R: Coordinator, Quintessential Business Women Association(QBWA), Iniong Okonko; Managing Director, Gufax Micro Finance Bank Limited, Uduak Udo and National President, QBWA, Shimite Katung, during the presentation of cheques to cooperative societies in Akwa Ibom State

DELAY

The slow pace of auctioning new spectrum bands may impede projected sub-sector’s input into the economy Kunle Azeez

xcept regulatory activities are accelerated to execute lined up activities aimed at improving next generation broadband infrastructure network in the country, Nigeria may not be able to fully achieve its projected N190 billion broad-

N190bn broadband GDP input target gloomy band contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year. Industry experts had said that the speedy execution of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) could contribute about N190 billion to the country’s GDP in 2015 alone. The entire spectrum of telecommunications and information services sector currently contributes 8.68 per cent to the Nigerian economy equivalent to N6.97 trillion

($44.3 billion), according to the 2014 rebased GDP data by government. However, investigations by New Telegraph revealed that there are some activities from regulatory perspectives that may serve as encumbrances to the projected broadband contribution target. The delays, it was learnt, have been slowing down entry of critical players into the country’s nascent broadband sub-sector. Last year, the Federal

Flour millers fret over 2016 cassava bread deadline UNCERTAINTY

The basic raw products may not be enough Dele Alao

here are indications that flour millers across the country are not optimistic about meeting the 2016 deadline on 10 per cent High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) inclusion in the production of bread. Many of the flour millers had expressed their supports to the composite cassava policy and had attended several meetings with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, on the policy. A composite flour policy to create incentives for wheat millers and to

other actors in the cassava bread value chain was drafted about four years ago. The policy calls for the mandatory inclusion of 10 per cent cassava or sorghum flour in all bread produced in Nigeria by December 2016. Some of the flour millers are, however, worried that there might not be enough cassava roots for the HQCF, Findings showed that cassava farmers under the aegis of Nigerian Cassava Growers Association of Nigeria (NCGA) “are not getting enough supports to produce cassava roots that would meet the demand for the HQCF.” Meanwhile, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Honeywell Flour Mills, Mr. Olanrewaju Jaiyeola, has said that the company, right from the second quarter

of last year, has been producing flour with two per cent cassava inclusion. “We have increased it to 2.5 per cent. What this means therefore is that in every Honeywell flours you find in the bakeries and markets, it contains high quality cassava flour, which means that every loaf of bread we consume in Nigeria today contain HQCF,” he said. The managing director said that the firm has taken its investment in cassava composite flour a step further by applying to take up one of the six cassava processing plants to be financed by the Bank of Industry (BoI). “We have made appreciable stride towards taking up one of the cassava processing plants to be financed through the Bank of Industry. We are looking at the one in Ogun State.”

Government failed in its bid to auction two special spectrum bands that would have added the needed fillip to the growth of the nation’s broadband sub-sector. They include the 2.6 gigahertz and 5.4 gigahertz frequency bands, even as the 2.3-gigahertz spectrum licence won by Bitflux last February has yet to be used to roll out wholesale broadband infrastructure, which is the mandate of the holder of the spectrum. This is in addition to the regulatory tardiness in issuing of fibre infrastructure companies (InfraCos) licences that should enable deployment of major telecoms infrastructure for ensuring ubiquitous broadband penetration. The auctioning of the spectrum bands and the issuing of the InfraCo licences have the potential to contribute to the country’s plan to achieve deeper broadband penetration. Broadband penetration currently stands at about six per cent, but growing this to about 30 per cent presents huge economic potential for the country. Telecoms industry as a whole currently contributes about 10 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP, according to the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson. This is expected to increase to about 15 per cent by the end of this year, according to the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Peter Jack.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Labour

Jobless graduates urged to tap into ICT, agric p.32 DEVICE The e-loading scheme is meant to guard against fraud and diversion of petroleum products

ACCA, London varsity agree on Master’s programme p.32

Strike: NARTO’s threat raises doubts over Project Aquila’s success

Sunday Ojeme

he Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) is currently battling the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Board over perceived challenges in the implementation of Project Aquila introduced by the Board in 2011. To this end, the association has given the Federal Government a 10-day ultimatum to rectify the issues or risk seeing members head for another round of strike when that of judiciary and health workers are yet to be resolved. NARTO said that it was under pressure from its members to suspend its operations of distributing petroleum products all over the country pending when the issues will be resolved. According to the President of the association, Alhaji Kassim Bataiya, NARTO was compelled to issue the ultimatum over some challenges its members were confronted with as a result of the implementation of Project Aquila by the Board of the PEF. Project Aquila Project Aquila, introduced by PEF in 2011, is an electronic business solution meant to help monitor the loading, transportation and delivery of petroleum products at all depots. During the launch, the management of PEF had said that cases of illegal transactions in the downstream sector of the petroleum sector would be largely curtailed with Project Aquila. The e-loading process is aimed at ensuring that products loaded are not diverted by the truck drivers. The objective of the project is to guarantee delivery of products to designated depots, thereby helping ascertain actual consumption levels of various petroleum products for planning purposes. During the launch, PEF said it would ensure error-free documentation and processing of transactions; enhance faster processing and payment of claims; eliminate human interferences and enthrone transparency and full accountability in the board’s activities. It also affirmed that the board would be making history as the first agency in the downstream sector to implement such an electronic loading solution to monitor loading and delivery of petroleum products. Obstacles However, Bataiya said the implementation of the project had been bedevilled with various problems, which have been impeding their operations as a vital stakeholder in the petroleum products distribution network. Some of the issues raised by

Petroleum tankers. Inset: Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Bataiya

NARTO that could warrant their strike, Bataiya said, included slow response from application of Aquila to up to three months, distance between locations for fixing Aquila leading to trucks travelling over 500 kilometres to fix the project, undue delay in freight payment leading to cash flow problem for NARTO members and problematic transmission from old to new Aquila procedures. He said, “The response to application or Aquila has been very slow taking up to three months in some cases whereas bank loansamortisation does not wait. “Non-payment for several months to some of our members on the excuse that Aquila does not capture already delivered products for example in Calabar and Port Harcourt areas.” He also alleged that there were inconsistencies in the Aquila pro-

The response to application or Aquila has been very slow taking up to three months in some cases whereas bank loan amortisation does not wait

gramme leading to three sets of Aquila within three years of its introduction, adding that it was its members that bore the costs. The association threatened to boycott all PEF activities, which include loading and transportation of fuel from tank farms and depots throughout the country. NUPENG’s directive Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has advised petroleum marketers to comply with the new pump price of petrol at N87.00per litre NUPENG lamented that most of the filling stations in the country were still dispensing fuel at the old rate of N97.00 per litre or not selling fuel at all. President of NUPENG, Mr Igwe Achese, said that it amounted to total dis-service and illegality for

any oil marketer to continue to sell fuel at the old rate, thus exploiting the consumers. He commended the Federal Government for bringing down the price of petroleum products in line with the falling prices of crude oil in the international market. The Federal Government, Achese said, should put other measures in place to cushion the inflationary effects of the fall of crude oil. He said, “The union enjoins the Federal Government to speed up the Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM) of the nation’s four refineries, instead of the dependence of massive importation of petroleum products that is depleting the scare foreign exchange. “The union also calls on the Federal Government to establish more refineries and encourage private developers to do same.”

Entrepreneurship: NIM plans forum for youth enlightenment

he Nigerian Institute of Management is mapping out plans for a forum meant to enlighten the youth on entrepreneurship opportunities. The institute said that its second Corporate Breakfast Forum expected to hold in Lagos was part of its corporate social responsibility to provide solutions to unemployment challenges of the youths. The President and Chairman of Council of the Institute, Dr. Nelson Uwaga, who disclosed the theme of the

Breakfast Forum as, “Youth Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” said lecture would be delivered by the Senior Adviser/ Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Africa Business Roundtable, Dr. Nelson Olatunji Olaniyi, while a past President of NIM, Dr. Christopher Kolade, would be the chairman of the event. He said that the institute decided to focus on the theme because the institute is deeply concerned about the rising wave of unem-

ployment in the country, which has continued to undermine Nigeria’s growth potential. He said, “The dearth of employment opportunities has led to serious inertia on the part of the youths in terms of their innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities. “The youth’s mental ability to focus on creativity has been negatively affected, leading to apathy, loss of confidence and psychological inadequacy compounded by lack of

adequate exposure to the outside world.” According to the Institute, NIM decided to intervene in the disturbing downward trend of youth employment by making use of its partnership assets with the Business Schools of top Ivy universities across the world in the bid to prepare the youths for innovation and sufficient entrepreneurship skills acquisition as well as expose them to global opportunities that will enable them to compete favourably in their chosen fields.

Business | Labour

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Oriflame extends entrepreneurial training to Abuja EMPLOYMENT Multi-level marketing offering employment opportunities to Nigerians Stories by Sunday Ojeme

he management of Oriflame Cosmetics Nigeria has extended its entrepreneurial training for Nigerian youths beyond Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This is coming just as hordes of hitherto unemployed people in Lagos have become engaged through the multi-level marketing introduced by the cosmetics and beauty company last October. Prior to the Abuja training arrangement, which begins today (Friday) and expected to

benefit residents of the capital city and neighbouring states of Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Zaria and others, the Swedish company had concentrated its programmes in Lagos with the aim of capturing more people, who have been out of regular employment for some time. According to the company, the Abuja meeting involves two sets of people. They include those for the Oriflame Opportunity Meeting (OOM) exclusively for non-members and the Success Plan Training session involving those who are already members of the Oriflame family. The company is also involved in training members in personal and hair care therapy as well as colour cosmetics and fragrance. New Telegraph recalls the Country Manager, Oriflame Nigeria, Mrs. Hanna Einarsson, describing Nigeria as a country

filled with people eager to succeed as entrepreneurs. She said, “I have been in Lagos now for five years and I have never seen such people who are so serious and business minded. In Nigeria, everyone is a born entrepreneur searching for opportunities. If I compare here with my country, I would say we are not as business hungry as Nigerians. “At Oriflame, our dream as a company is to help people fulfill their dreams. That is our motto. Ours is to sit you down, ask you what your dreams are and help you to fulfill them. While doing this, you look good, have fun and make money. These three statements fit perfectly with Nigerians. “Anyone can become an Oriflame consultant – The Oriflame opportunity is unique. Because of the exceptional flexibility of

being a consultant, Oriflame fits into any life style. Regardless of whether you are looking to make some extra money, turn it into a full time career or enjoy financial independence, Oriflame is suitable for you. Whether you are a fulltime or part time employee, self employed, working from home, a student, retired or parents at home with your children. You can set your own hours and you are your own boss. “We train our consultants. We teach them what to do to enable them climb the success ladder easily and faster too. Oriflame prides itself on offering an extensive training programme on both business and beauty that is essentially free of charge to its consultants and leaders. “It covers all the training that a consultant needs from day one to be able to excel each step of

the way. We have trainings twice everyday here in our office. As soon as you finish your registration, you move to the classroom where you will be trained on what to do and how to move. It is not difficult, so everybody fits in.”

Einarsson

ACCA, London varsity agree on Master’s programme

L-R: Lead Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Deloitte Nigeria, Fatai Folarin; Transitional Leader, Tawanda Gumbo; Deloitte Global Head, Debt and Capital Advisory, James Douglas and Head Valuation, Deloitte Africa, Charles Larbi-Odam, at the Deloitte Global Debt Structuring and Financing Seminar in Lagos.

Jobless graduates urged to tap into ICT, agric

he Project Director, Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), a project under the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), Mr. Okechukwu Okorie, has advised unemployed graduates in the country to create jobs for themselves by taking advantage of the thriving Information Technology and Communication (ICT) as well as the agriculture sectors. Okorie, who gave this advice at a forum organised by the scheme for some interns in Osogbo, said that there were new opportunities

in the major sectors of the economy, which unemployed graduates could use to create jobs for themselves and even become employers of labour rather than focusing on white-collar jobs. Okorie said, “There are new and interesting opportunities in agriculture, Information and Communication Technology, power, construction, health, environment and sanitation as well as financial literacy and inclusions.” He added that exit training had been organised for graduates who completed

the scheme and those that were about to complete the scheme in order to prepare them for life after the scheme. He also said that the internship training provided instruction on personal and team effectiveness, skills, etiquettes and ethics of the workplace, adaptation to the workplace, career path development and performance management, adding that fresh graduates also made use of the internship period to develop useful skills and positive work habit.

BCPG elects new executive

he Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Lagos State Chapter, has elected new officers to steer the affairs of the group in the next two years. BCPG is a pressure group championing campaign against collapse of building in Nigeria. In an election that took

place at the Secretariat of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Wunmi Agbaje, an architect, emerged as the new chairman. Other elected officers include Vice Chairman, Mr. Kayode Ogunji, an estate surveyor; Ex-Officio, Mrs Catherine George, a town planner;

General Secretary, Mr. Yemi Ashaolu-Fowowe, an estate surveyor; Treasurer, Mrs. Adekemi Okusaga, a quantity surveyor; Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Ikugbayigbe, an engineer; Financial Secretary, Mr. Lucky Isename, a builder; and Welfare Officer, Mr. Adesina Adeleke, a surveyor respectively.

he Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the University of London have started a process of collaboration in the first ever worldclass Masters programme integrated with a professional qualification. The University of London would now offer a Master’s programme to ACCA students and members around the world, according to the agreement. It marks the first time an accountancy body would work with a university to enable its students across the globe to gain a Master’s degree and a professional accountancy qualification at the same time. The combination of ACCA’s global network of students and members, alongside the University of London’s unrivalled network of accredited teaching institutions will present a powerful partnership. The ACCA Chief Executive Officer, Helen Brand, said: “We are delighted to be the first professional accountancy body to be able to deliver this type of programme, meaning ACCA now directly offers choice from a complete suite of professional and academic qualifications. ACCA has a long history of working with academic partners and is proud of the opportunities these partnerships offer to our students and members. “Consistent with this, providing global access to a prestigious Masters qualification as part of ACCA’s professional qualification will offer our students and members the opportunity to enhance their employability even further. “Through our strong global relationships, we know that employers in many markets place a very high value on finance leaders having both a professional and a Masters

qualification. We also know ACCA’s flexibility and portability are big factors for students when making their decision about which path to take, and ACCA, and the University of London have just increased that access and flexibility.” The Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, Sir Adrian Smith, said: “The University is pleased to partner with ACCA to offer this pioneering programme to ACCA students and members worldwide. “This programme fits well with the University of London portfolio of over 100 international programmes which are offered in collaboration with our internationally renowned colleges in pursuit of our 156 year old widening access mission to learners worldwide. “The programme will support students utilising modern online tools and interactive learning activities in addition to offering a range of learning support available through our well established community of teaching institutions and online tutors. Students successfully graduating from this programme will complement their professional skills with masters’ level outcomes to support their career development.” The Master’s programme would commence from early 2016 and will be delivered through online and local institutional support, in association with UCL, while details relating to the routes for ACCA students and members will be available in March 2015. The University of London is a federal University and one of the oldest, largest and most diverse universities in the United Kingdom, established by Royal Charter in 1836 and recognised globally as a world leader in Higher Education.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Agric

Beneficiaries emerge in HQCF project p.34

FG moves to prevent spread of bird flu INITIATIVE Stakeholders told to be alert with intensified bio-security measures Dele Alao Threats A fortnight ago, poultry farmers in some states in the country woke up to the reality of yet another outbreak of bird flu, otherwise called Avian Influenza, in their poultry farms. Bird flu, as the name implies, is an infection in birds caused by an influenza virus. Influenza viruses that infect birds often do not cause illness in birds. Since the viruses are highly contagious, danger to humans arises when domesticated birds (for example, chickens, ducks, and turkeys) become infected. While bird flu usually poses no threat to humans, instances of transmission of bird flu to humans have been reported since 1997 and over 100 people were infected in an outbreak that began in Southeast Asia in mid-2003. Research findings have confirmed that human infection with the H5N1 virus, although possible, remains a rare occurence. Direct contact with infected poultry, or surfaces and objects contaminated by their faeces, is presently considered the main route of human infection. Exposure could potentially occur during slaughter, de-feathering, butchering, and preparation of poultry for cooking. There is no evidence to suggest that the avian influenza virus can be transmitted through the consumption of poultry and poultry products, as long as standard precautions regarding food storage, handling and preparation are followed. History In November 2010, officials in Hong Kong announced that a woman had contracted bird flu, the first reported case of the condition in seven years. The 59-yearold woman had recently traveled to mainland China, but reported no contact with live poultry or visit to farms. Birds infected with avian influenza virus can transmit the virus to humans through their excretions, such as, saliva, nasal secretions and feces. During an outbreak of bird flu among poultry, there is a possible risk of spread to people who have contact with infected birds or surfaces that have been contaminated. The initial case of bird flu was reported and confirmed on a commercial farm and in a live bird market in Kano and Lagos states respectively on January 8, 2015. Other states are Delta, Ogun and Rivers states. On the outbreak of the disease in Lagos, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Coop-

A poultry farm

that the cases were due to H5N, we could not, at the time, determine the biotype. We have now confirmed that the cases were due to the H5N1 virus. “Although bird flu is a disease primarily of poultry, it also has the ability to affect humans if not properly handled within poultry populations,” he added. To date, not less than 15 commercial farms and nine live bird markets have been affected in the five states.

eratives, Gbolahan Lawal, said: “During the last Christmas and New Year period, the Veterinary Department of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives received a report of high mortalities of birds in poultry markets across the state. “Samples were collected by the department and sent to the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Plateau State, where they were found positive for the H5 strain of Avian Influenza. In the outbreak in Lagos State, over 2,000 birds were killed on the undisclosed poultry farm in Badore,” the commissioner added. First outbreak in Africa Nigeria was the first country in Africa to report H5N1 in poultry in 2006, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Checks however showed that outbreak of bird flu that has affected humans involve the influenza A (H5N1) virus, sometimes referred to as the “H5N1 virus.” Outbreaks of influenza H5N1 infection occurred in poultry in eight countries in Asia late 2003 and 2004, resulting in over 150 million birds either dying from the disease or being killed in order to try to control the outbreak. This widespread outbreak also led to documented human infections and deaths in several countries. Confirming the incidence during the week, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr.Akinwunmi Adesina, said: “I wish to formally inform the public of the incidence of bird flu (avian influenza) on some poultry farms in Nigeria. The initial case of bird flu was reported and confirmed on a commercial farm and in a live bird market in Kano and Lagos states respectively on January 8, 2015. While we quickly confirmed

We have successfully controlled it in the past and have activated all the necessary protocols and measures to ensure successful control this time as well

Most affected state The most affected state has been Kano, where the initial case of bird flu was found. A total of 103,445 birds have reportedly been exposed to the infection in Kano State, with 15,963 (15 per cent) mortality reported. These cases were found in Gwale, Kumbotso, Tofa, Gaya and Ungogo local governments. In Lagos State, the total number of birds under close watch is 31,195 and 3,347 (11 per cent) mortality has been reported. The three confirmed cases were from Somolu and Eti Osa local governments. “All the farms have been quarantined and decontaminated. Other locations in Ikorodu, Ojo and Lagos Mainland have already been quarantined, while awaiting confirmation,” the minister said. He added: “In Ogun State, Sagamu has reported two locations with one positive case (Ifo) and another negative case (Sabo). Of the 1,030 birds currently under watch in the two locations, 163 (15 per cent) have experienced mortality. Other states with positive cases reported are Rivers, Delta, Edo and Plateau with figures ranging between 200 and 1,550 mortalities.” Remedy In all of these states, the minis-

ter noted, different levels of interventions, including depopulation, decontamination and quarantine are currently ongoing. “The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is spearheading a rapid response system in close collaboration with the state governments’ ministries of agriculture. At the moment, we have been able to contain the disease in Kano and Lagos states by joint teams of federal and states’ staff in these areas. The reported cases in Delta and Rivers states are being monitored,” he said. He added: “I wish to assure Nigerians that Nigeria will successfully control the bird flu outbreak. We have successfully controlled it in the past and have activated all the necessary protocols and measures to ensure successful control this time as well.” Containing the outbreak Meanwhile, the minister said some measures have been put in place to contain the outbreaks. Such measures, among others, include quarantine of infected premises and restriction of movement of poultry and poultry products in and out of areas around infected premises. Directors of Veterinary Services in all the states of the federation and FCT, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and other stakeholders have been informed and advised to be alert with intensified bio-security measures to avert possible spread of the disease to other states and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Inter African Bureau for Animal Resource (AU-IBAR), Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nation (FAO) and other development partners have been notified in compliance with statutory international obligations.

Business | Agric

Plateau launches agriculture programme for schools

he Plateau State, government has launched its National School Agriculture Programme (NSAP) to build technical skills in students interested in agriculture. The Federal Government had earlier launched the same programme in October 2014 with Plateau as one of the pilot states. Flagging-off the programme in Jos, Governor Jonah Jang, said it would equip the students with more robust and scientific method of agriculture. Represented by his Education Commissioner, Dr. Paul Wai, the governor said that the cumbersome traditional system of agriculture was fast giving way and that the younger generation should be inculcated with new methods of doing things. The governor lauded the determination of President Goodluck Jonathan, for ensuring that agriculture was given a new face in the country. He further commended the Federal Government for choosing Plateau among the twelve states that would be used for the pilot scheme.

Adamawa signs MoU on sugarcane Eddy Nelson

he Adamawa State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a sugar project with a frontline agro-allied company, JOF Nigeria Ltd. The agreement involved establishment of large-scale sugarcane plantation. The event was witnessed by Governor, Bala Ngilari, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, JOF, Mr. Segun Fagboyegun, Secretary to the State Government and Ibrahim Welye, Solicitor General & Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice. Others are Sule Mohammed, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Survey, Ibrahim Gisinbee, Director of Finance and Management Services JOF, Sogo Omosona, Process Improvement Manager JOF, Yomi Ogunrinola and other top government functionaries.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Beneficiaries emerge in HQCF project SKILLS Local young people officially engaged as out-growers Stories by Dele Alao

oung people in Afon village, Ilorin, Kwara State, have become the first beneficiaries of a new initiative by the High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) project to combat youth

unemployment through agriculture. The project recently allocated twohectare plots to each of 25 local young people for cassava farming and officially engaged them as out-growers to supply fresh roots to HQCF processing plants. This approach, which is also part of International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA)’s bigger efforts to win back the interest of youth in agriculture, aims to bring together fragmented producers to combine their

resources. According to the project team, the new initiative will solve two problems: Youth unemployment and the scarcity of fresh roots faced by most HQCF processing plants in Nigeria. Project Coordinator, Bamidele Alenkhe, confirms that the plot allocation exercise is being replicated in Ekiti and Ogun states in 2015. “Some of the stem cuttings from the current multiplication plots will be distributed to other

young people and outgrower farmers,” he said. The IITA Youth Agripreneurs played an important role in the selection and mentoring of their colleagues by sharing their experiences and exposing them to the requirements of good agricultural practices. In other efforts to empower the youth in the cassava value chain, the project was recently involved in capacity building by training an Agripreneur, Ms Funmi Lamidi, in “Ag-

ricultural Market Information Systems and ICT Platforms for Business Management across the value chain” in Arusha, Tanzania. Lamidi will transfer her new skills to young people in all project locations and empower them to communicate their activities via web-based tools and social media. IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

Business | Policy

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi Agbaje, has unveiled his economic agenda, which he says, would help in creating new economic opportunities for the people of the state. Kunle Azeez examines key highlights of the ‘bold’ economic blueprint in this report

Agbaje: Unfolding new economic prospects for Lagos

ast Sunday, Agbaje released key economic policies he would embark upon if elected as the next governor of Lagos state. In contents, the economic agenda, which form part of his manifesto, is targeted at improving the general economic development of the state after existing and ongoing programmes in the state must have been fine-tuned Paradigm shift Economic observers have said there is a wall of difference between the economic blueprint unveiled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, some weeks back and the one released by Agbaje. According to them, while Ambode’s economic focus, as reviewed by New Telegraph on January 6, is on maintaining the status quo in the state, thereby continuing with the existing projects and programmes in the state, Agbaje’s economic policy direction is aimed at first, undertaking a strategic review of what is on ground in the state with a view to creating new economic opportunities for the people. This, according to Agbaje, would be actualised through its flagship policy with the theme “SHELTER”, which stands for Security; Health; Education and Your Empowerment; Leadership and Governance; Transportation; Economic Empowerment and Residential Housing. Jobs and revenue Emphasising how he intends to make its economic policy different from the status quo in the Lagos, Agbaje said: “The flagship policies will be delivered effectively through our policy themes. We intend to give the people value for money; build an efficient and dynamic economy for today and the future; do things differently and effectively and; develop a kinder and more humane Lagos. These policies will have an effect on the key areas of the economy.” Whilst Lagos remains a commercial and industrial hub, he noted that its economy could do a lot better; stressing that ‘entrepreneurial governance’ will be the approach of the PDP administration inaugurated in Lagos after the forthcoming elections. “Our approach is that while the government will provide direction, determine priorities and monitor performance, the pri-

Agbaje

vate sector will, as far as possible, be charged with bringing our ideas to life. Enlargement of the private sector in this way will create work for our people and provide revenue to the government.” Consequently, the overarching goal of his government would be to transform Lagos into a specilaised economy and develop new competencies and competitive advantage. “We will ensure that Lagos maintain its status as Nigeria’s economic and commercial hub and effectively compete as a regional and financial hub,” he promised. Agbaje promised to encourage the concentration of specific economic activity in parts of our State that offer the best comparative advantage, saying such concentration would see the development of activity value-chains and clusters. Technology On specific policies that would be carried out, the governorship aspirant said that his government would integrate and leverage the ongoing public and private sector initiatives in the Yaba area of the state by setting up a ‘Technology Village’ and providing free Wi-Fi internet connectivity and hotspots in specific public areas and spaces to drive ICT-driven economy in the state. Fishing and fish processing hub would also be established in Epe and Ikorodu to jump-start an ocean economy. Ocean economy Specifically, he said the ocean economy would involve the development of marinas, seafronts, supporting logistics and their infrastructure. “On-going expansion and upgrade of infrastructure must be accelerated to enhance the competitiveness of our economy and ultimately the creation of jobs for our people. The water resources of our state must be harnessed to add the di-

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga

mensions of an “Ocean Economy” to our current character,” he said. If elected, Agbaje said his government would also establish a one-stop investment promotion and regulation centre to assist businesses with government processes, adding that this will be done in conjunction with both Federal and State agencies such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Agbaje’s economic policy direction is aimed at first, undertaking a strategic review of what is on ground in the state with a view to creating new economic opportunities for the people.

Small Scale Enterprises Closely linked to this is Agbaje’s plan to pass a local content legislation to ensure that small businesses can participate in all state’s projects. “We would pass the local content legislation to enforce 10 per cent participation of residents and small businesses in large-scale state projects,” he said, stressing that this will be achieved through employment, sub-projects and/or training opportunities. Infrastructure On infrastructure development, he said his government would utilise the private sector for the provision of infrastructure and delivery of services, which will ultimately lead to job creation through encouraging continued private sector investment in power supply, ensuring the implementation of a revised transportation Master Plan with defined frameworks for private sector participation as well as ensuring that regulatory bottlenecks are eased significantly. He also pledged to ensure that within next four years, Lagos, at least, matches the best-performing mega-cities as measured by the benchmark parameters in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking. Agriculture Similarly, in the area of agriculture, the governorship aspirant said he would encourage

agriculture in Lagos through working to attract and partner with major local and international companies and agencies to improve the productivity and attractiveness of agriculture in the state. “We would also encourage significant private sector investment in aquaculture; upgrade and aggressively expand extension service provision; as well as collaborating with other land-rich states to facilitate the production of food for consumption in Lagos,” he said. Transportation While noting that the demand for transport services was growing faster than economic growth in Lagos Metropolitan Areas, Agbaje said that his goal in this direction would be to implement an efficient and effective transportation system and ensure the free flow and movement of the people, goods and services. “As Lagos is the economic hub of the country, it is vital that we enhance our transportation channels,” he said, stressing that to achieve this, a revised transportation plan for Lagos based on an integrated multi-modal transport system would be implemented including safe and efficient use of railways and waterways. Housing On housing, which is also key to economic development, Agbaje said, “Our goal is to effectively deliver sustainable housing units to address the problem of inadequate and unaffordable housing; we will not only provide shelter but use this as a means of creating jobs for the people.” He promised that his government would deliver 150,000 housing units by 2018 through fostering partnerships with the private sector and promoting sustainable and effective building methods while removing the bureaucratic and regulator bottlenecks that affect the registration of property title and land availability.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Auto Beat Porsche cars

2014: Porsche delivers 189,850 cars to customers

n 2014, Porsche AG delivered 189,850 new cars to customers all over the world – an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year. In December 2014, the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer also broke the 20,000 unit barrier (+39 per cent compared to the same month the previous year) by delivering 20,644 cars for the first time in one month. The new Cayenne generation in particular experienced strong demand in China in the reporting month: over

6,400 units mean that deliveries almost doubled compared to December 2013. “For the fourth record year in a row there are very specific reasons: fascinating products and highly motivated employees,” said Bernhard Maier, Member of the Executive Board Sales and Marketing of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. “On top of that, our brand experienced an additional upswing in 2014 as a result of the successful launch of the Ma-

can. Worldwide, seventy-five per cent of Macan customers were first-time buyers of a Porsche car.” In 2014, Porsche sold more cars in all regions and on all markets. The United States ranked number one with over 47,000 new cars delivered. The Chinese market recorded the largest growth with an increase of 25 per cent to exactly 46,931 units delivered. On the domestic market in Germany, almost 24,000 customers opted for a Porsche model, more than

ever before. The Porsche Macan, the new sporty compact SUV, was especially popular in the world in 2014 and the fifth model series sold about 45,000 units in the first year of its launch. The Stuttgart sports car manufacturer delivered 13 per cent more Panamera sports saloons than in the previous year. With over 30,000 units of the 911 sold, the sports car icon also ranks above the figures for the previous year.

GM targets improved profitability in 2015 Paul Ogbuokiri

eneral Motors Co. expects its total earnings before interest and tax adjusted and EBITadjusted margin to increase in 2015, compared to 2014, after adjusting 2014 for the impact of recall costs. The company also anticipates improved automotive results in all regions. This outlook is based on modest global industry growth expected in 2015, which will result primarily from continued growth in China, Europe and the United States, and ongoing launches of key vehicles. CEO Mary Barra, President Dan Ammann, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens shared this outlook with investor analysts attending the Deutsche Bank 2015 Global Auto Industry Conference in Detroit. GM reiterated it is on track to meet its previously announced 2016 financial targets to achieve EBIT-adjusted margins in North America of 10 percent; to return to profitability in Europe, and to maintain strong margins in China. The company also said its plan puts it on the path to achieve 9- to 10-percent margins by early next decade. The strategic plan, shared during the Global Business Conference in October 2014, includes several major initiatives: lead in product and technology; grow the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands globally; continue growing in China; continue growing GM Financial, and deliver core operating efficiencies. “We had a pivotal year in 2014, outlining a customer-focused strategic plan for the company and delivering on our commitments by achieving strong core

operating performance,” Barra said. “We’ll build on this momentum in 2015 and continue executing our plan to become the most-valued automotive company.” To support its future growth, GM plans to increase capital expenditures to approximately $9bn in 2015, reflecting increased investments in products and technologies. “Overall, 2014 was a very solid year in which we met expectations on core operating performance, despite a number of significant headwinds,” Stevens said. “Importantly, improvements in 2015 will keep us firmly on track to meet our

near-term objectives and demonstrate solid progress toward our targeted margins of 9 to 10 percent by early next decade.”

Chevrolet jeep

Volkswagen achieves first goal of Strategy 2018

he Volkswagen Group achieved the first goal of its Strategy 2018 last year: “In 2014, our Group delivered over ten million vehicles in total to customers, ranging from the e-up!* city car to heavy commercial vehicles. That is impressive confirmation we are vigorously implementing our Strategy 2018 despite challenging market conditions. We are also making good progress with our other main goals – return on sales, customer satisfaction and top employer”, the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, said in Detroit on Sunday. In total, 10.14 (prior year: 9.73; +4.2 percent) million vehicles were handed over to customers worldwide from January to December 2014. Developments in the month of December were also positive, with deliveries running at 881,000 (December 2013: 857600;

+2.7 percent) units. Group Board member for Sales Christian Klingler commented: “Our Group has doubled vehicle deliveries in the last ten years. That is an outstanding performance and an impressive result, and all Group brands have played their part in achieving this despite at times very difficult market conditions.” Including the figures for heavy commercial vehicles, Group brands delivered a total of 3.95 (3.75; +5.1 per cent) million vehicles to customers on the overall European market in 2014. 2.03 (1.90; +7.2 per cent) million customers took possession of a new vehicle in Western Europe (excluding Germany). 1.24 (1.19; +4.5 per cent) million units were delivered in the home market of Germany. The Group handed over 670,900 (668,300; +0.4 per cent) vehicles to customers in Central and Eastern Europe in the period to December, of which 275,800 (316,000; -12.7 percent) were deliv-

ered in Russia. The company delivered 891,900 (890,600; +0.2 per cent) vehicles in the North America region from January to December, of which 599,700 (611,800; -2.0 per cent) were handed over to customers in the United States. The Volkswagen Group delivered 795,700 (992,300; -19.8 percent) vehicles in the South America region during the same period, of which 629,800 (755,200; -16.6 per cent) were handed over to customers in Brazil. The Group continued to record encouraging figures in the Asia-Pacific region, where annual deliveries topped the four-million mark for the first time. The Group handed over 4.06 (3.65; +11.3 per cent) million vehicles there from January to December, of which 3.68 (3.27; +12.4 per cent) million were delivered to customers in China (incl. Hong Kong), the Group’s largest single market.

Feminique NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

How Alice Mbadiwe KO’s women’s weight Alice Mbadiwe is an accomplished lawyer and a UK-certified fitness professional. Now practicing in Nigeria, she is helping women, especially those who hate to exercise, to achieve their fitness goals in a fun and graceful way. Ebere Ameh was with her recently and writes

Alice Mbadiwe

EBERE AMEH ebere.ameh@newtelegraphonline.com

Nigerians are becoming aware of the dangers of an unhealthy lifestyle

lice could pass for a spinster, but she is already a mother of six grown up children. Her delectable figure, with well toned abs and nicely sculpted arms are a sign that despite being blessed with excellent genes, she works hard to achieve and maintain her elegant shape. “I have always enjoyed a variety of physical activity ranging from Walking, running, badminton, table tennis, dancing and weight lifting. I started working as a part time Fitness professional in the UK because I wanted something that would give me the flexibility to look after my children. Luckily they are all grown now and I have more time to pursue my work.” Wondering how she really keeps such a fabulous shape? Alice says she tries as much as possible to eat a balanced diet, drink lots of water, detox now and then and train with a combination of cardio and weights five times a week to help her keep in shape over time. Her sense of style is another thing you can’t but notice. Aware of her graceful figure and shiny and sparkling complexion, she dresses simply but not without flaunting what her mother gave her, making her the cynosure of all eyes. With an LL.B from the University of Nigeria, Alice later attended the Premier International Training Centre, where I got a diploma in Personal Training and Exercise to Music, Studio instruction, Combat, Step and Spinning. She is also a Zumba and Zumba toning instructor with over 11 years experience. “Zumba is special! It is a combination of fun and fitness. It’s a dance fitness class. The main attraction is that you are exercising without realising and in any case, most people enjoy dancing. It has succeeded in capturing the group of women that don’t like the word exercise. The music is great and you have a fusion of music and dance steps from all over the world; Salsa, Meringue, Capoeria , Cumbia, Bachata, our very own Nigerian dance steps, the list goes on. Anyone can do a Zumba class. All you need is comfortable clothing and a pair of trainers.” Alice has worked for prestigious health clubs like Virgin Active and the Manor Health Club both in the UK, teaching fitness classes, advising on proper nutrition and doing personal training. Talking about the response to this new form of exercise, especially among Nigerians, Alice who is currently focused on health and fitness as a way of life and full time occupation said. “I am excited to say that the response to Zumba classes has been great, people just love to dance. I can confidently say that in my experience 90 per cent of the women that have sampled my classes have enjoyed it very much. I currently teach Zumba to women at Idowu Martins, Victoria Island , Lagos.” Married to the Greg Mbadiwe, a scion of the late front-line politician and two-time minister, Dr Ozuomba Mbadiwe, Alice had to slow down on her legal profession to attend to her family. “I am afraid the Legal aspect of me has had to take a back seat for a while. You can well imagine the challenges of raising six children and shuttling between the UK and

Nigeria to make sure both ends are covered. It has not been easy, therefore something had to give. I have been very lucky to have a husband and children who understand my passion for fitness and have been greatly supportive of me furthering my career in this direction.” Alice has a passion for resistance training and body sculpting and her focus is on proper nutrition, safe, fun fitness and keeping up with new trends in the fitness world. She is excited that a good number of Nigerians are getting to know the importance of exercise and healthy diet but thinks that much more still needs to be done. “Nigerians are becoming aware of the dangers of an unhealthy lifestyle; typically lack of physical activity and an unhealthy diet. I hope to reach out to women in the Corporate world as well as individuals. So much can be done and should be done. A fit and healthy lifestyle is one way to lessen your risk of a range of diseases. Everyone in every walk of life should be involved.” She observed that Nigeria has good foods but unfortunately, many people are tilting towards the western diet to the detriment of their health. “Nigerian foods are rich in complex carbs, fibre, protein and good fats, we also have a huge range of fruits and vegetables, all fresh and affordable and easily obtainable. Nothing beats fresh. The problem though is the method of preparation; overcooking (especially vegetables) and often times too much oil. There is an adage that says “you are what you eat” this is very true. A balanced healthy well portioned diet alongside a sensible fitness regime will ensure a healthy weight and a healthy body.” A very busy woman, one would think Alice would take delight in sleeping anytime she is free but no. The fitness pro relaxes by even more exercises. “Training relaxes me and leaves me with a clear mind. I also practice Yoga which has a calming and therapeutic effect on the mind and body. I find breathing exercise very relaxing as well. Reading is another favourite pass time of mine.” Aware that many Nigerian women have lost hope of ever being able to shed their weight, Alice has the following advice to help them overcome. “My advice to women whose goal is to lose weight is simple. Set yourself a weight loss goal in little chunks. Weight gain happens when you consume more calories than your body needs and weight loss happens when you consume less. I suggest you reduce calorie intake in a sensible manner. “Avoid crash diets which only slow down your metabolism and cause more weight gain. Eat low calorie foods; all variety of vegetables,fish, skinless chicken and lean meat. Stay away from calorie dense foods like white bread and pasta, avoid also fizzy drinks, processed foods like biscuits and sweets. “Take up some form of physical activity you enjoy, such as walking, swimming, Zumba. Find friends to share these activities with if you don’t like to train alone. Most of all be consistent, and little by little you will see the pounds drop off. It is also a good idea to seek the help of a properly certified trainer to help you reach your goals and ensure you train safely. Fitness is a lifetime commitment,” Alice noted.

Feminique

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

12 ways to keep your hubby away from women Y ou must have frequently heard the words ‘Husband Snatcher.’ This is usually said by ladies whose husbands have allegedly been snatched by other women. Whenever, I hear such statements, I laugh. The questions I always ask are these? Are you sure you are not the one that pushed him out? What have you done to snatch him back? Unfortunately, most of us (men and women alike) never want to accept responsibilities for our actions or inactions as the case may be. The most popular culprit is Juju or Jass. You will often hear the discarded woman say, ‘ A, B, and C use Juju to snatch other women’s husbands’. Again I laugh. Now check this scenario. Your husband married you as a pretty young lady. Five years later, all he sees is a fat, dirty, ugly looking and smelly woman. Can you now blame him for going out with a pretty young lady who looks like you did five years ago? Yes it is true that some men are the proverbial woman wrapper and would chase anything in skirt,

wrapper, trousers or pants. The percentage is actually less than 10 per cent believe me. Most men are really monogamous by nature. Over 90 per cent. We know it is less stressful, socially, economically etc. Most of us finished sowing all our wild oats whilst single. We just want to settle down and grow old gracefully. But if fire continues to burn in the house on a daily basis, the guy has no choice than to check out. By the way, believe it or not, Juju or Jass only works when the environment is conducive. If your husband is not forced to spend 99 per cent of his time outside his matrimonial home, no woman on the prowl can snatch him. With or without Juju. They must meet and be interested in each other for any love portion to work. To think otherwise is to give the proverbial dog a bad name in other to hang it. So my dear woman, if you do not want your husband to be at the receiving end of any missile or love portion, then read these articles carefully and seriously.

Food. This is the first catastrophic mistake a lot of married women make. The saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach is very, very correct. Yes everybody loves good food. Men, women and children. But for us men, it is something else. We always want to boast outside that our wives are good cooks. Let me divulge a secret to you here. Do you know why your husband is always inviting his friends, colleagues and even bosses home for breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, dinner, etc? It is really to show off you and your cooking. Yes it might seem to be a lot of hard work for you, but it enhances both your image and his. He won’t even mind giving you extra money as food allowance and other allowances if his stomach is always full. But you sef don’t be greedy o!!!. Don’t buy Bokoto 2k and claim it is 5k O!!!. Some women make the mistake of over billing their husbands on food allowance. Forgetting that we compare notes and occasionally eat out.

Fadeyi

If a meal of rice + stew + chicken is more expensive at home than at Mr Biggs Or Tantalizers, something must be wrong somewhere. That is all for this week, but remember. Give him good food and varieties. Not just Eba, Amala, Yam, Fufu or Rice 24/7. If you don’t know how to cook, go and learn. Chikena. 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

Investment fuss Ebere Ameh

f anybody told me that Danny will not propose to me as we frolicked in Dubai I would not have believed. I make bold to say that we are now, much more than friends, and our holiday in Dubai, much more than fun. But in spite of everything, I still have great hope. Really, I can’t say why I am so much into Danny. We seem to have this chemistry that I did not find its match in Segun. A day cannot pass without a call or a visit. Could it be because we are still new in our relationship, or because there is no commitment yet? Could it be true that people in long term relationships seem to lose the vibe with time? I can’t remember feeling the same way for Segun, even when we were dating. Despite the fact that he says he feels the same way towards me, he refused to propose. I don’t think it’s because of my age... for goodness sake, I’m just 35. Some of my age mates are still unmarried. If it is because of my children, we can work it out amicably. I can still bear him a child or two, if he wants. What could be the problem? Anyway, some people like

taking their time. Let me try and forget that and face reality - The holiday is over, and the children are back to school. It was easy to pay their school fees now but it may not be that easy going forward, if I don’t act fast. Nnamdi had suggested I try establishing a block industry with my severance package, my mother suggested an international business. I have to think hard and come up with some business I can grow this new year. A friend has introduced someone who will help me with the plan and feasibility study. The first draft he brought wasn’t, what I really wanted. Let’s see what he will bring this weekend. If not for the low interest rates, I would have fixed the money and saved myself the stress of business. It’s not everyone that has a business acumen but many, including my mom will not understand. They all want to see you do something. Many will be your friend and will be proud to say ‘I told you,’ if the business grows, but will be fast to berate you if the business collapses. Truly, success has so many friends. But my case is different. If others will venture and fail, I

won’t because I have an edge. As an accountant, I just can’t afford to fail. As bad as the economy may be, I will still play safe by putting 30 of the money in mutual fund, I will buy shares with 30 percent and do start a business with 30 percent. The remaining 10 percent, I will keep for miscellaneous expenditures, including school fees. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket. So far, only Danny supports this my plan. Nnamdi and even my parents think I should invest 80 per cent for the money and do whatever I like with the remaining 20 per cent. “The way you start matters. If you take off big, it will have a better impact than starting on a shoe string budget. Trading with peanuts has its own disadvantage my dear,” mom once said. I can understand their ‘Igbo’ stance, but in my own case, in addition to being Igbo, I am an accountant and was taught to play safe. One thing they fail to understand is that mutual fund and the capital market are all good ways of investment. At least, I thank God I have a staunch supporter. I look forward to next weekend when I will discuss the details with him. We have made plans to enjoy an amazing bubbly weekend together in his house.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Islam

39 E X H O RTAT I O N

03 Rabi Al-Thani 1436 AH

“O MANKIND! WE CREATED YOU FROM A MALE AND A FEMALE AND MADE YOU INTO NATIONS AND TRIBES THAT YOU MAY KNOW AND HONOR EACH OTHER (NOT THAT YOU SHOULD DESPISE ONE ANOTHER). INDEED THE MOST HONORABLE OF YOU IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IS THE MOST RIGHTEOUS.” (QUR’AN 49, VERSE 13)

UNDERSTAND YOUR FAITH

Prophet Muhammad and Jokes QUESTION

Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ever make jokes? Is there any evidence for that? Thank you. ANSWER

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother in Islam, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake. In spite of his being a Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was a very pleasant light-hearted person. Despite all the severity and seriousness of his function, his company was neither dull nor uninteresting, but was full of pleasant and sincere humor. With his pleasant ways and moderate joking, the Prophet showed us that religion does not have to make us dull and disagreeable. In this regard, Sheikh Zoubir Bouchikhi, Imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston’s Southeast Mosque, states: “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make jokes but he was sincere in them. One day he told an old lady that no old man and no old woman will enter Jannah, and she was shocked, then he clarified to her that he meant when we go to Jannah we enter as young people. Elaborating on this issue, the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, adds: “Despite his enormous responsibilities, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) always had time for jokes; however, he never lied when joking. On many occasions the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) shared in the good cheer of his companions; he’d joke with them and have fun. But as he shared in their joy, he shared in their sorrow.” CONTINUED ON NEXT WEEK

L-R: Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Education, Alh. Fatai Olukoga, Commissioner for Education, Lagos State, Alh. Lateef Ibirogba, Alh. Musibau Oyefeso and former chairman, Agege Local government, Alh. Jubril Oyefeso, at a prayer organized by Joint Muslim Forum in Lagos on Sunday.

PROMISE Governorship candidates vow to address 13-point demand Adeola Yusuf

he Muslims in Lagos have insisted that they would not vote for any governorship candidate who will not respect the rights of willing female faithful to use Hijab. Rising under the auspices of the Joint Muslim Forum (JMF), the Lagos Muslims said this at the Muslims Pray For Peaceful Elections in 2015, as a part of their 13-point demand to some of the Lagos State governorship candidates including that of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Akinwunmi Ambode and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic

No Hijab, no vote, Lagos Muslims tell Ambode, Agbaje, others Party (PDP), Jimi Agbaje as well as their National Conscience Party (NCP) counterpart, Comrade Ayodele Akele. JMF Steering Committee Chairman, Alhaji Thabit Wale Sonaike said that the position of the body on the recent declaration on “No Hijab, No Vote,” remained. Director, Muslims Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq ‘Lakin Akintola, added that the 13 point – Muslim agenda, advocated that the state government should allow the use of Hijab by female Muslim students in public schools, saying it was a matter of fundamental and civil rights. He contended that the present school uniforms was

an imposition of the colonial masters when they arrived Nigeria in 1775 – 800 years after Islam arrived in the region that later came to be known as Nigeria in the year 1085. Stressing that Muslims were not fanatical and violent, Professor Akintola stressed that the demand is not aimed at destabilising the government. “We demand that the Muslim female public servants should be allowed to use Hijab while in the office; that the Muslim science students should be allowed to offer the Islamic Religion Studies, for any of them who so wishes. Preventing students from studying their religion would lead to the turning out of half-

baked and ignorant Muslims who perpetrate, extremism and fanaticism,” he said. The academia also called on the incoming state government to ensure the incorporation of Muslim prayers into the schools daily devotion; that every Muharram 1, of the Hijrah calendar be declared a public holiday. He also called for the creation of the State Sharia division and for the State Coroner Law to be reviewed such that the Muslim corpses were released on time as the religion required burial of the dead latest, 48 hours after demise. He also called for state cremation Law to be abolished; ensure balance appointment in all careers and political offices without putting Muslims at disadvantage.

Students insist N10,000 JSS examination charges exploitative

he Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State Area Unit has insisted that the N10,000 computer-based test registration charges for 2015/2016 admissions into junior secondary schools is an act of exploitation. Amir (President) of the society, Kaamil Kalejaiye, who said this in a statement, maintained that it is not ideal for the Lagos State government to ask parents to pay the amount. It would be recalled that the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, had in a statement on Friday said two versions of the screening tests – computer-based and pencil-based – would be adopted for the 2015/2016. Lamentably, she added that

parents and guardians were expected to pay N10,000 to designated banks, after which candidates would be registered through a customised compact disc issued by the State Examination Board. MSSN LSAU said that the burden of bringing quality or change in the education system should not be placed on parents. Kalejaiye also described as “scary” the educational policies of the LASG, pointing out that the government hardly gives out any educational benefit for free. He said: “Lagos State is at it again with their anti-masses educational policy. Why must the parents always pay for things that government should do. It seems Lagos government has misplaced it’s priority. It is not parents right to sponsor educa-

tional innovation, unless if voluntary. It sounds absurd to read the the commissioner of education is asking parents to pay. “Why is Lagos government always running for its responsibilities when it comes to education? The fear is that this just the beginning, very soon the LASG may begin to ask parents in public schools to start paying ‘token’ school fees. This may not come directly but with another obscured tag. This is possible because we have seen high fee regime happened in the state university, polytechnic and colleges of education. All these have made the educational policies of LASG scary and mostly anti-masses.” The MSSN boss also accused the state government of not judiciously utilising the $90mil-

lion (N13.5 billion) education loan it got from World Bank. He added, “If the World Bank grant has been judiciously managed, the idea of looting parents by asking them to pay would not have come. Why should parents be asked to pay despite the huge loan. Our government must wake up to their duties and respect voters right. “This is another violation and disrespect of rights. Earlier, the government denied Muslim pupils of wearing Hijab in public schools, which we will not relent on getting (the Hijab right) restored; now it is indirectly asking their parents to pay for Junior school entrance examination in disguise of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) charges.”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Leisure Arcade NUTS

NTPuzzle

By Kaycee

Chris’s Most Importa nt Question R C B E L I E V E R R H R I S C G P I W L D E S P S 0 F R T F I X A T X N U Z P 0 S S Z V N G K c M R 0 W T R E E D 0 H G B M N E I

MAMA LASISI

By Aliu Eroje

N R E H A E N 0 Q N P V A L V Y X Q T E E R Z P E T A U G H T D A C 0 E Z U B R E U K Y A H N X A A K R O P E J

MOYIN & FRIENDS

By Ayo Oyerinde

Z K

BELIEVER FORGAVE MOTHER CHRIS

GROW MUSIC CONFESSED HEAVEN

PARENTS COUCH KNEELED PRAYED

DISOBEY LISTENED TAUGHT

NTJokes WHAT A COINCIDENCE

SUDOKU - Answer to No 39

5 3

SUDOKU - No 40

4 5

2 8

5 4

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.

A man walked up to a farmer’s house, and knocked on the door. When the farmer’s wife opened the door, the man asked if she knew how to have sex. Not amused, she slammed the door. Again, the man knocked, and again, he asked the same question. Again, she slammed the door and screamed, “Get the hell away!” Later, she told her husband of the incident. He said he would stay home the following day just in case. Sure enough, the next day the same man returned. The husband hid with his gun while his wife answered the door. When she was asked again if she knew how to have sex she said, “Yes!” The man replied, “Great! Give some to your husband the next time you see him, and tell him to keep the hell away from my wife!

NO BALLS? A man was being interviewed for a job. “Were you in the service?” asked the interviewer. “Yes, I was a marine,” responded the applicant. “Did you take a part in any military actions?” “I was in Vietnam for 2 years and I have a partial disability.” “May I ask what happened?” “Well, I had a grenade blown up between my legs and I lost both testicles.” “You’re hired. You can start on Monday at 10 am.” “When does everyone else start? I don’t want any preferential treatment because of my disability.” “Everyone else starts at 7 am but I might as well be honest with you. Nothing gets done between 7 and 10. We just sit around scratching our balls trying to decide what to do first.”

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Crime

Self-abduction: Parents disown daughter, say she’s a criminal Dominic Adewole ASABA

“P

ay N10 million if you want your daughter to be released alive!” Those were the tensed, haunting words delivered to a man and his wife via phone from unknown kidnappers who abducted their lovely daughter, Belynda Chinwe Bosa, 25. Petrified out of their wits, the couple feared the worst. Although, they didn’t have such an amount of money ready at hands, they had embarked on fasting and prayers, hopeful that the milk of human kindness would flow into the kidnappers’ hearts and make them lower the ransom. They had also prayed that the kidnappers would not rape their daughter. The parents however, become speechless after detectives trailing the kidnappers told them that their daughter planned her own kidnap with her lover. They promptly disowned her for putting them through hell. Bosa, a 300level Mass Communication undergraduate of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, was arrested on January 12, 2015. Detectives of the Delta State Police Command smoked her and her lover, George Itietie, a student of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu State, out of their hideout. She was in faraway Oyibo axis of PortHarcourt, River State, where she and her lover lodged and were demanding a ransom of N10 million from her parents in Delta State when police surprised them. The lovers had threatened her desperate and distraught parents, insisting, “Pay N10 million, if you want your daughter to be released alive!” The parents never knew it was their daughter that was threatening them. They had begged the supposed kidnappers until they reduced the ransom. The first payment had just been lodged into an Ecobank account when police arrested the lovers. Bosa said she regretted her actions and pleaded for mercy. Weeping profusely, Bosa said: “I regret getting involved in this crime. Please forgive me, daddy and mummy! I’m sorry for

JULIANA FRANCIS CRIME Editor

juliana.francis@newtelegraphonline.com

Itietie and Bosa

the stress I made you go through!” Asked why she agreed to the fraud, she lamented, “George and I love each other. We decided to get married but had no money to plan the wedding. I decided to offer myself to be kidnapped by George so that we could extort money from my parents for the wedding. But we didn’t envisage that it would go this way.” Bosa further said that her parents had always loved her, and even more so after she gained admission into the university three year ago. “I can’t just explain what came over me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know why I embarked on this shameful act. I’ve embarrassed my parents and soiled my family name for the sake of love. Can somebody please help me beg them to forgive me?” On his part, Itietie, who repeatedly tried to hide his face, said he could not say whether the parents of the girl would still allow him to marry her after this. He queried dryly: “Even if Belynda’s parents allow me to marry her, will they be able to obliterate the stigma from their hearts?” While he appeared resigned to fate,

Bosa said “If I’m given the chance, I’ll still marry George!” Aside from the lovers, other kidnappers nabbed by the command were also paraded. One America Sunday Ogagawotu was described by police as the anchor-man of Bosa and her lover. Part of the ransom was paid into Ogagawotu’s account, domiciled at the Ecobank branch, Port-Harcourt. Four out of the six other kidnappers, including one Paul Egwom, Vincent Uche Uzondu, Obinna Matthew and Otiolo, were nabbed by men of the State AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) in Asaba, along Asaba/Onitsha Expressway. They were arrested after they brought two Toyota Lexus Jeep, marked RX350 to a bush-path workshop for re-spraying. Police spokesman, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Celetina Kalu said: “Investigation revealed that the hoodlums kidnapped one Titus Ayuba on December 14, 2014, along Okpanam road in Asaba while driving his Toyota Lexus RX 350 with registration number AKU 230 HT, blue in colour and took him to a hideout at Uda Layout in Asaba. He was released five days later after payment

of N1 million. The hoodlums took away the said jeep and later called the victim on phone to demand an additional N2 million to enable him get back his vehicle. But luck ran out on them.” Before the suspects, including Bosa ,were escorted out of the cell like goats being led to the slaughter house, Bosa’s parents had disowned her and implored the police to treat her and Itietie as criminals. Revealing minute details of how the lovers were apprehended, Kalu said: “The suspects had established contact with the apprehensive mother of Bosa, who was already nagging her father to part with the money for the sake of their daughter’s life. “Investigation into the incident revealed that Bosa, on leaving Lagos went to her boyfriend, Itietie at Port-Harcourt where she, Itietie and their anchor-man (America) plotted and informed her parents that she had been kidnapped.” According to Kalu, the conspiracy was to obtain millions of naira from Bosa’s parents under duress. “America got N100, 000 as his own share of the N500, 000.00 which was lodged into his bank account,” narrated Kalu. “Bosa and her boyfriend collected N400,000.”

Crime

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Watching porn movies increases sexual abuse in kids’ Dr. Princess Olufemi-Kayode is the founder and Executive Director of Media Concern Initiative (MediaCon), a non-governmental organisation. She is passionate about the welfare of children and believes that if nothing is done, the beauty of childhood will be lost for today’s child. In this interview with JULIANA FRANCIS, she talks about the danger and effect of pornographic movies on kids. Excerpt; Do we have statistics of kids’ sexually abused in Nigeria? Statistics are difficult to gather. The problem with statistics is that nobody is collating data. What you can get is data from different organisations. Even the police are not collating. The difficulty is also that not all cases that gets to hospitals, get to police. We have our own data at MEDIACON. There’s no one place in any state that you can go and get data on rape. It’s a major challenge.

Is the law helping? The issue is not a new law, even though I’m not against a new law. One of the reasons MEDIACON had never pushed for a new law is because we found that these laws are already there! A rapist is supposed to go to prison for 14 years, but who had ever been sentenced for 14 years? We have these laws, they are there. Now sexual violence is too wide to be lumped together with domestic violence. If you look at South Africa sexual violence laws, it has been reviewed. What do you think are the causes of sexual abuse? For me, it’s because of the increase in population. People who are abused end up abusing others. We’re in a highly sexualised world. Children to children abuse are higher than adult to children abuse. Teenagers are experimenting with smaller kids. There’s a high level sexual activities going on among the children. Sex is on the streets. 50 years back, people used to be abused. Back then, it was not as bad as today. Today, children can pick up pornographic movies or magazines for N100 or even less. They go online and watch pornographies. The cybercafés operators allow them to do this. After watching this, they practice on smaller children. And smaller kids who watch sex on TV would want to practice too. We have a huge

Ethelbert Oney

istorically, the root of intelligence gathering can be traced to the biblical times when Moses sent some Israelites into the Land of Canaan for reconnaissance. Popular concerns today in the country are over well-known facts such as the continued existence of the Boko Haram, intelligence failures, inability to question those mentioned directly or indirectly as sponsors of Boko Haram, and widespread disagreement over whether the current intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure is capable of handling the additional demands of our counter-terrorism mission.

Would you agree that there’s increase in sexual violence and rape? Sexual violence is a global problem. It’s not a Nigerian problem. Sexual violence is on the rise all over the world. It’s happening everyday and everywhere! Is the Nigerian government doing enough to curtail rise of sexual abuse and rape? It’s interesting that there are so many people out there now; purportedly saying they know how to handle the problem. But it’s not something a single person can do! It’s supposed to be a collective response. You can’t cut off any sector out of the work front. The work forces include the religious bodies and the criminal justice system. What we need is to really boost the capacity of the police and judiciary. It’s not that they don’t know the law, but they lack the capacity in being able to deal with issues. They need to begin to look at the victimcentered- structural approach. They should begin to center on the victims, not on the perpetrators. The victims carry deep scars for the rest of their lives. They can be helped once they come out. To reduce the effect on their lives and the future, whether they are children or adults. Right now, the government is talking about revamped bill. The issue is that there must be a legislation law on ground before talks about life imprisonment for rapists. How many have been sentenced to life imprisonment?

The 3rd Eye Reasons our intelligence gathering techniques will always fail (1)

Olufemi-Kayode

problem. Developed countries that have statistics still tell us that the number of people who do not come out to say they’ve been abused are more than those who had come out. The US has low conviction rape, even with their capacity. Kids in the US are the ones now using others for prostitution or trafficking. They too have their own problems. Let us sit down and solve our own problems. MEDIACON has always trained policemen in handling rape cases and victim, is it helping? In fairness, we have a very dynamic national police force. When we train policemen, they would be posted to another place. Some of them would be moved to traffic sections. So we still have an issue with the police structure. Although now, we have a gender policewoman. We are hoping there would be change. There was a time you handled a case where two sisters were violated by an HIV positive man. What became of that case? The police said they couldn’t find evidence on the girls. This is true because our virginal heals very fast, especially if he had been ‘fingering’ them. Police allowed him to go, threatening that they would get him if he continues. What can parents do to safeguard their kids and wards? Parents of today need to be conscious and begin to learn more on how to interact with their children and keep communication open. They should also start to educate children earlier. They should be closer to their kids. Abuse, especially for the kids, starts with someone

in authority or trust in the life of the child. Parents should start early to teach their kids sexual education. When they ask questions, respond to them. If you don’t know it, let them know you don’t know it. Parents should always try to be informed because of their kids. Your child needs to look up to you as the expert. We have cases of fathers who rape their daughters. That’s what I was talking about. We need to look at our own diverse culture. In Nigeria, a lot of women are under the impression that once you’re married to a man, you have to stay married to him in spite of whatever he does. They think they have to stay with him no matter the situation. And if she decides to leave the man, where does she go to? We don’t have structures in place that supports women unlike overseas. In overseas, once the woman calls the police, the man will have to leave the house. This is part of the thing that helps women to stand strong. These are some of the things we need to be looking at. It is very tasking for people like us, working in this centre. To get accommodation for mother and child, furnish it, and get a new school, is not easy. You have to allow her to start a new life. Start a business. The society doesn’t have place for these women. Family members wouldn’t want to take her and her kids in because they too have their own problems. These women are in a dilemma, including those who are educated. Many of them don’t have a dime. Just N10, 000 can make a difference in the life of such women. We have a lot of issues in this country.

New mission on Boko Haram and a different political climate from the usual covert or overt means have placed additional demands on our intelligence agencies. They must be able to collect intelligence against new targets, many of which require different collection methods than they are used to. They must meet different interagency sharing requirements; cooperate with civilian service agencies with the law enforcement agencies; maintaining efficiency and operating under closer public scrutiny for the purpose of accountability. For our intelligence agencies to meet these demands, the following solutions may be necessary: increases in the scope, power, authority, and size of the national intelligence structure; a restructuring and recentralization of our intelligence; and the creation of a new agency to handle domestic terrorist activities in the country. Simply put, our security and intelligence agencies must realise that intelligence work is far from physical, emotional or showman bravado. Now let’s consider the three types of intelligence that exists within the frame. Strategic Intelligence: This provides the law enforcement agencies with an overview of criminal capabilities, vulnerabilities and intentions with respect to certain specific areas such as Boko Haram activities. This type of formula allows law enforcement agencies adequate time and information to formulate plans to combat terrorist activities. The action of operational intelligence is geared towards the enforcement objectives. This type of intelligence provides data pertaining to specific individuals or organizations, which have already been targeted for immobilization. Information provided by this type of intelligence usually includes modus operandi, sources of arms supply and routes utilized. Tactical Intelligence is more oriented toward case prosecution than the other two types. It is targeted towards a specific criminal activity such as terrorism with the goal of neutralizing that activity. Tactical intelligence is short term in nature, usually developed day by day. • Ethelbert Oney is an Intelligence & Security Expert ethelbertoney@zissltd.com (08067764342 SMS only)

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

L-R: Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba; President, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Najeem Yasin and Vice-President, Alhaji Adegboyega Tomori, at the launch of Police Elections Guidelines for police officers in Abuja.

General Ibrahim Babangida, receiving his National Identity Card from the Director General, National Identity Management Commission, Chris Onyemenam, in Minna, Niger State.

Photo | News

L-R: Bauchi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Alhaji Auwal Jatau; Governor Isa Yuguda and the state’s PDP Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Yaroyaro, at the party’s governorship campaign rally in Darazo LGA.

L-R: Communications Production Advisor, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Andy Ejeneha; Subsea Hardware Engineer, SPDC, Mr. Musa Mohammed; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa; Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Mr. Jonathan Okehs and Business Relations Manager, SPDC, Mr. Kanu Ijere, at an inspection of Shell’s stand at the opening session of the 2015 offshore West Africa annual conference and exhibition in Lagos.

L-R: Director, Voter Education, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Osaze Uzzi; Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri and Director, Admin and Human Resources, Mr. Ado Solomon, at a capacity training of NOA staff on the forthcoming general election, in Abuja. A cross-section of the Kaduna State Local Government Sole Administrators taking Oath of Office in Kaduna.

L-R: US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James F. Entwistle; Rivers State governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Prince Tonye Princewill and the US Consulate General, Mr. Jefferey Hawkins, at the US Diplomats’ courtesy visit to Princewill campaign office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

L-R: Legal Practitioner, Mr. Sheriff Muhammed; Medical Director/CEO, Medicrest Specialist Hospital Limited, Dr. Jeremiah Abalaka and his counsel, Mr. Paul Omale, at a press briefing on the nullification of the ban on Abalaka’s HIV/AIDS vaccine by a Makurdi Federal High Court in Abuja.

Business | Money Line

BANK ACCOUNT Less than one adult out of four in Africa has access to a bank account Stories by Godson Ikoro

he African Development Bank (AfDB) and MasterCard yesterday announced a strategic collaboration to expand financial inclusion across the African continent. In a statement issued in Davos, Switzerland, Donald Kaberuka, President of the AfDB and Ajay Banga, President and CEO at MasterCard, said the collaboration would develop solutions that drive inclusive growth in Africa by broadening access and usage of digital financial services. Going by the strategy, MasterCard would bring proven expertise to design and scale inclusive financial services solutions and infrastructure while the AfDB actively promotes sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa. Furthermore, both organisations will work with African governments and local private sector companies to develop

AfDB, MasterCard to broaden financial inclusion in Africa and deliver affordable services that meet the needs of a wide consumer base, especially the traditionally unbanked. Specifically, the collaboration will seek to build cohesive African financial systems that drive inclusion at a country level and enable service delivery to traditionally excluded populations; invest in acurate set of innovative financial services companies and solutions targeted at addressing barriers that hinder financial inclusion; and share knowledge across academic, policy and commercial sectors to create thought leadership on financial inclusion and economic development. Commenting on the move, Kaberuka said the phenomenal economic growth in Africa has not translated into shared prosperity and better livelihoods for the majority. “Growth has to be inclusive to be socially and politically sustainable. One key component of inclusive development is financial inclusion, an area

Nigeria eases forex trading rules as JPMorgan review looms

igeria eased curbs on foreign exchange trading less than a week after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it might remove the country’s debt from some indexes because of a liquidity crunch. The maximum net open position banks can hold at the end of each trading day was raised to 0.5 per cent of shareholders’ funds from 0.1 per cent, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on its website. The limit was one per cent until last month, when the regulator ordered banks to clear positions daily. The latest measures failed to buoy the currency, which fell as much as 1.2 per cent, heading for a record low on a closing basis. “This will not necessarily help the naira’s exchange rate,” Gareth Brickman, an Africa analyst at ETM Analytics in Johannesburg, said in an e-mailed note on yesterday. Money leaving the country is weighing on the currency, he said. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had placed Nigeria on Index Watch Negative on January 16 for its GBI-EM local-currency emerging-market indexes, against which about $220 billion is benchmarked, citing the drop in volumes on currency and bond markets that followed the central bank’s move last month. The New York-based lender said it would assess Nigeria’s local markets over the next three to five months. The naira weakened 0.2 per cent to N189.85 per dollar as of 1:45 p.m. in Lagos, extending losses over the past three months to 13 per cent, the most among 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Yields

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

on naira bonds due 2024 fell one basis point to 15.56 per cent, the lowest on a closing basis in a week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Loosening trading restrictions “means we’ll probably see increased liquidity and willingness among banks to act as market-makers,” Ayodele Salami, who oversees about $200 million of Nigerian equities as chief investment officer of Duet Asset Management Ltd., said by phone from London. “It will certainly help.” Africa’s biggest oil producer is struggling to cope with crude prices that plunged by more than half in the past six months. Policy makers have responded by devaluing the currency, increasing interest rates to a record 13 per cent and proposing spending cuts. The banking watchdog announced other steps Wednesday to defend the currency. It said foreign exchange bought at twice-weekly auctions and on the interbank market can only be used for “funding of letters of credit, bills for collection and other invisible transactions,” with bureaux de change no longer allowed access. “The CBN is trying to keep dollars contained within the banking system to prevent reserves bleeding,” ETM’s Brickman said. The nation’s foreignexchange reserves have declined 20 per cent over the past year. Steps by the CBN follow an agreement between currency traders in Lagos earlier on Wednesday that dealing be curtailed should the currency fluctuate more than two per cent against the dollar a day.

he said. Also in his remarks, Banga, said: “Less than one adult out of four in Africa has access to an account at a formal financial institution. While many of our industry partners have been active in this space, we believe that through our payments ex-

in which Africa has been lagging behind other continents. Broadening access to financial services will mobilise greater household savings, marshal capital for investment, expand the class of entrepreneurs, and enable more people to invest in themselves and their families,”

Fitch downgrades Afren to ‘B-’ F

tion regarding the company’s present liquidity position due to the blackout period related to a possible acquisition by Seplat Petroleum Development Company (Seplat). Fitch will seek to resolve the watch pending further clarification of Afren’s current liquidity position. The rating was predicated on lower production; higher leverage Afren’s credit metrics have weakened since the beginning of the year, reflecting lower output in 2014 compared with 2013 and lower oil prices. Its funds from operations (FFO) adjusted gross leverage was at 2.8x at end-9M14 (1.8x at end-2013), and we believe it will exceed 4x in 2015, assuming moderate production growth, Brent price of USD50/ bbl in 2015 and the company’s hedging arrangements. In January 2015 Afren announced it had revised down

itch Ratings has downgraded UK-based energy group, Afren Plc’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR), as well as its senior unsecured and secured ratings to ‘B-’ from ‘B’ and placed them on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). In a statement released yesterday, the agency said that the Recovery Ratings for the debt ratings were ‘RR4’ and the rating action follows Afren’s announcement regarding a possible financial restructuring. The company confirms it has been reviewing with its advisors its capital structure, liquidity and funding requirements. Part of the process is Afren’s discussions with its lenders regarding amendments to its existing lending facilities, in addition to seeking a deferral of a $50 million amortisation payment due at the end of January 2015. Fitch has limited informa-

pertise, and the AfDB’s 50 years of experience in financing Africa’s economic transformation, we can achieve scaled impact and lasting transformation. This can only be accomplished when the public and private sectors combine resources and act together.”

gross 2P reserves at the Barda Rash field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq by 190 million barrels of oil equivalent. The movement in reserves and resources is due to the 2014, reprocessing of 3D seismic shot in 2012 and processed in 2013, as well as results from the company’s drilling campaign. Additional factors that can affect the company’s financial position include a takeover by Seplat, a small-scale Nigerian oil producer, which recently confirmed that it was in preliminary talks with Afren. Seplat will need to formally declare its intention by the end of January to comply with London Stock Exchange listing rules. Fitch will need confirmation of this possible merger agreement, and a view on the potential financial and strategic direction of the combined group, before taking any potential rating action.

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 23, 2015

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

22-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

535.00 581.39 476.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 434.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 206.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,855.63

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,412.51

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

0.25 1.56 2.26 2.51 2.61 3.35 4.43 4.75 7.01 9.14 13.85 14.33 14.83 15.50 19.49

13.46 14.88 15.33 15.39 15.38 15.37 15.34 15.38 15.43 15.48 14.79 14.70 14.61 15.05 15.82

12.83 14.76 15.25 15.31 15.31 15.25 15.24 15.27 15.37 15.41 14.74 14.64 14.54 14.98 15.76

97.68 97.50 99.50 88.80 87.42 88.06 102.05 72.43 104.00 93.80 101.18 86.89 63.33 70.00 78.00

97.83 97.65 99.65 88.95 87.57 88.36 102.35 72.73 104.30 94.10 101.48 87.19 63.63 70.30 78.30

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

0.33 1.20 1.88 2.24 2.45

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.26 17.48 17.13 16.29 16.37

94.81 99.85 98.30 96.63 93.28

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

311.08

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.61

4.44

18.69

96.58

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.44

3.23

17.06

99.03

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.96

4.46

19.74

95.42

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.96

3.48

18.76

97.50

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.24

1.00

16.28

88.54

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.51

1.00

15.94

97.34

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.94

1.79

17.17

92.89

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.11

1.80

17.03

94.96

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.70

1.00

16.37

93.55

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.31

1.00

16.31

96.86

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.31

4.78

20.09

89.60

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.50

1.00

16.38

96.42

BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

*GOMBE LAGOS

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

BBB-/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

2.75 4.83 2.81

1.00 1.00 2.74

16.38 16.39 18.12

98.32 93.81 93.02

‡ /Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.10

10-Oct-20

3.36

1.00

16.37

96.08

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.85

1.00

16.44

89.17

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.94

1.94

17.38

91.36

‡ /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

3.60

1.44

16.81

94.27

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.56

06-Jan-21

3.63

1.95

17.32

94.26

96.58

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

460.61 428.20

Corporate Bonds ‡ /Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.33

4.88

18.48

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

9.34

09-Dec-15

0.64

1.00

15.33

98.58

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.71

2.63

17.18

98.21

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.69

1.00

16.03

95.62

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.76

1.34

16.41

96.75

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.69

1.00

16.38

92.82

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.71

1.88

16.92

102.63

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.71

3.48

18.53

96.71

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

1.88

5.20

20.33

96.71

1.88

5.06

20.19

101.75

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

3.67

1.35

16.72

92.70

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

1.99

2.29

17.47

97.51

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

2.07

6.11

21.33

94.69

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.94

2.16

17.54

96.71

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.81

2.76

18.20

89.62

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.69

1.00

16.48

78.25

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.69

1.00

16.48

84.55

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

124.44

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

116.23

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.06

1.00

16.38

85.58

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.28

1.00

16.37

84.97

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 21.27

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

7.41

7.17

96.83

97.97

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

6.43

6.05

96.00

97.16

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

7.67

7.49

92.05

93.07

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

1,424.44

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

87.00

55.00

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

6.98

100.63

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

11.25

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

12.01

11.24

86.38

88.25

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

9.86

9.01

88.05

90.51

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

37.52

30.51

44.38

53.67

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

9.22

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

14.70

13.52

81.42

84.74

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

9.98

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

27.85 12.73 11.38

27.85 12.41 11.38

40.25 85.00 84.00

40.25 86.25 84.00

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.74

9.62

89.96

94.94

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,790.70

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

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

Bid Discount (%) 10.69 11.00 10.35 10.65 10.51 10.65 11.49 10.31

Offer Discount (%) 10.44 10.75 10.10 10.40 10.26 10.40 11.24 10.06

Bid Yield (%) 10.71 11.05 10.41 10.74 10.62 10.78 11.67 10.48

Money Market Tenor

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 9.2917 13.1106 14.2324 15.4591

Rate (%)

OBB

9.00

O/N

9.58

Tenor Call 1M

REPO

Rate (%) 7.83 14.04

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

188.10 188.39 188.68 189.38 190.66 191.93

188.20 188.50 188.83 189.84 191.66 193.43

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

0.33 1.20 1.88 2.24 2.45

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.26 17.48 17.13 16.29 16.37

94.81 99.85 98.30 96.63 93.28

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 Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure stillLAGOS the key ‡ /Agusto *BAYELSA concern ‡ /Agusto EDO ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

Stories by Chris Ugwu ‡ /Agusto *NIGER

W ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

hile the continent *GOMBE LAGOS continues to face BBB-/Agusto; A-/GCR *OSUN both economic ‡ /Agusto *OSUN ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR and security LAGOS chalA-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro KOGI lenges, it remains an attractive ‡ /Agusto *EKITI region for foreign investment. A-/GCR *NASARAWA This was the consensus of TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE members of the ‘Achieving AfTOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION rica’s Growth Agenda’ panel disCorporate Bonds cussion at the World *UPDC Economic ‡ /Agusto Forum Annual Meeting 2015 in BBB-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS Davos. A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO According to CNBC Africa, A-/Agusto FSDH panelists included South AfA/GCR UBA rican BBB-/GCRPresident Jacob *C & I Zuma, LEASING Nil *DANA Paul Rwandan President A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR *TOWER Kagame, Nigeria Stock ExAAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER change (NSE) chief executive, A/Agusto; A/GCR UBA BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR ‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

#{r}

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

311.08

Foreign investors undeterred by challenges facing Africa 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.61

4.44

18.69

96.58

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.44

3.23

17.06

99.03

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.96

4.46

19.74

95.42

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.96

3.48

18.76

97.50

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.24

1.00

16.28

88.54

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.51

1.00

15.94

97.34

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.94

1.79

17.17

92.89

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.11

1.80

17.03

94.96

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.70

1.00

16.37

93.55

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.31

1.00

16.31

96.86

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.31

4.78

20.09

89.60

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.50

1.00

16.38

96.42

97.51

Oscar15.50 Onyema, the chairman GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 of Flour Mills of Nigeria, John 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 Coumantaros Sunil Bharti 14.75 OSUN IIand 10-OCT-2020 Mittal,13.50 theLAGOS chairman of Bharti IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 Enterprises. 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 “Africa has faced a lot of chal15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 lenges historically. But over the years, we have reduced the amount of conflict in the region,”10.00 said Zuma. UPDC 17-AUG-2015 Zuma that lack of in12.00added FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 frastructure on the continent 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 was also to blame for poor intra14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 trade relations. 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 “Investment in30-NOV-2017 infrastruc18.00 C&I LEASING DANA 9-APR-2018 ture isMPR+7.00 therefore key to achievMPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 ing sound intra-Africa trade MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 agreements,” he said. 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

The panelists also agreed 02-Oct-12 15.50 that 22-Nov-12 14.50 despite the security challenges 12-Dec-12 14.75 in Nigeria relating to Boko 10-Oct-13 14.75 Ha27-Nov-13 13.50 ram, falling commodity prices 15.00 and the 31-Dec-13 lack of infrastructure, 31-Dec-13 14.50 foreign investors have15.00 contin06-Jan-14 ued to pour funds into the continent. “When investors look at the countries they want to10.00 invest 17-Aug-10 their resources into, they 09-Dec-10 12.00 have 06-Jan-11 to consider risk, but 14.00 this applies to 29-Sep-11 every region, 13.00 not just 25-Oct-13 14.25 Africa. You have to ensure that 30-Sep-10 13.00 your assets are safe. Most of 30-Nov-12 18.00 09-Apr-11 Africa is 16.00 the challenges facing 09-Sep-11 are isolated. I believe 18.00 there is 09-Sep-11 16.00 a risk but it’s not as big as we 22-Sep-11 14.00

make be,” Onyema 16.23 it out to 02-Oct-19 2.75 80.00 22-Nov-19 4.83 explained. 26.62 12-Dec-19 2.81 “ Africa got about $57 billion 11.10 10-Oct-20 3.36 27-Nov-20investment 5.85 in87.50 foreign direct 5.00 in 2013,31-Dec-20 (FDI) this shows 5.94 the 4.55 31-Dec-20 3.60 confidence that the investor 4.56 06-Jan-21 3.63 community has in Africa.” Ony460.61 ema added. 428.20 Another grave concern, Onyema added, is17-Aug-15 the difficulty0.33 as3.61 sociated with 09-Dec-15 travelling within 9.34 0.64 0.71 the0.42 continent. 06-Jan-16 15.00 29-Sep-16 “I believe the movement1.69 of 5.53 25-Oct-16 1.76 people needs 30-Sep-17 to be addressed. 20.00 2.69 If 0.64 you’re an African 30-Nov-17 travelling 1.71 6.30 09-Apr-18 1.71 through Africa, you still need 2.90 09-Sep-18 1.88 many visas. It takes political 0.80 09-Sep-18 1.88 will to change this,” he said. 35.00 22-Sep-18 3.67

Mittal noted that most Afri1.00 16.38 98.32 16.39 93.81 can1.00 countries and industries of2.74 18.12 93.02 fered worthy investment oppor1.00 16.37 96.08 1.00 16.44 small 89.17 tunities and that pocket 1.94 17.38 of terrorism shouldn’t91.36 chase 1.44 16.81 94.27 investors away . 1.95 17.32 94.26 “Africa has enjoyed 10 years of peace, which brought in a lot of investment. Gone are the days of Africa relying 96.58 on the 4.88 18.48 World 1.00 Bank and 15.33 the Interna98.58 2.63 Monetary 17.18Fund (IMF) 98.21 for tional 1.00 financial aid,”16.03 he said. 95.62 1.34 16.41 96.75 However, the panelists92.82 did in1.00 16.38 dicate continent faced 1.88 that the 16.92 102.63 3.48 18.53 96.71 a number of issues that needed 5.20 to be resolved20.33 before the 96.71 region 5.06 20.19 101.75 can1.35 achieve optimal growth. 16.72 92.70

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

1.99

2.29

17.47

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

18.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.07

6.11

21.33

94.69

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.94

2.16

17.54

96.71

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.81

2.76

18.20

89.62

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.69

1.00

16.48

78.25

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.69

1.00

16.48

84.55

14-Aug-21

10.74

9.62

89.96

94.94

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

UBA plans expansion to Angola

nited Bank forSTANBIC Africa Nigeria struggling to cope 13.25is STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024 IBTC Plc plans to VALUE expand to with crude prices that plunged TOTAL OUTSTANDING Angola and South Africa as by more than half in the past six TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION the economy of Nigeria, its months. Policy makers respondSupranational Bond largest market, is pummeled ed by devaluing the currency in 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC by fallingAAA/S&P crude oil prices. November, 11.25 increasing AFDB 1-FEB-2021 interest Aaa/Moody's; AfDB TheOUTSTANDING lender will move to rates to a record 13 per cent and TOTAL VALUE the southern African nations proposing spending cuts. TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION “We have done quite a lot of as part of its next “phase of Description Rating/Agency Issuerhedging and we have expansion,” Chief Executive applied Officer, Phillips Oduoza, said various financial products to FGN Eurobonds in an interview yesterday make sure that the bank is ad6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P with Bloomberg in Davos. equately protected,” Oduoza BB-/Fitch; Oduoza said he didn’t expectFGN said. “The naira is5.13 finding its JUL 12, 2018 BB-/S&P oil prices or the Nigerian cur- realistic value. I do not think BB-/Fitch; JUL major 12, 2023 rency you are going to see6.38 any BB-/S&P to continue their decline. Nigerian companies TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE and devaluation, if at all it is going the Lagos-based bank are “ad- to happen,” he added. TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION equately protected” against a UBA had recently partnered Corporate Eurobonds drop in the value of the naira with Vodacom for data and 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P PLC I and the price of oil,AFREN Oduoza broadband communications. 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I said. The business 7.25relationJUL 25, 2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC “The currency of FIDELITY Africa’s ship, which is handled locally 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC largest economy and crude through Vodacom Business Ni6.00 NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch AFREN PLC II producer probably won’t be geria, the wholly owned subsid6.25 APR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P devalued further andZENITH loanBANK de-PLCiary of Vodacom, enables UBA 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC faults are unlikely to increase,” to seamlessly interconnect 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC he added. business offices and6.63 ATMs and DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III Angola toII generally9.25/6M deploy financial USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P is the continent’s ACCESS BANK PLC 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD services across second-biggest oil producer. the group. A/GCR

B-/S&P

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Stock market sustains downward trends

Specifically, the NSE All- kobo per share. International PLUNGE Breweries Plc and Presco Oil 116.23Share Index depreciated by 71.11 basis points or 0.24 per Plc followed with a drop of Investors’ wealth dips cent to close at 29, 687.93 as 4.98 per cent each to close at 11-Feb-13 10.20 12.00 11-Feb-18 3.06 1.00 16.38 85.58 by N24 billion N20.80 and16.37 N28.22 per84.97 share 10-Jul-14 11.25 12.95 against 29,759.04 01-Feb-21 recorded 4.28 the 1.00 respectively. 24.95previous day. Meanwhile, a turnover of igerian equities mar-21.27 The market capitalisation ket regressed further of equities equally depleted 410.5 million shares worth Outstanding Value Issue Date as theCoupon (%)dominatDate or Bid Yield per (%) Offer Yield (%) Bidin Price Offer Price bears by N24Maturity billion 0.24 N2.5 billion 4,030 deals was ($mm) ed transactions, necessitat- cent to close at N9.888 trillion recorded in the day’s trading. Prices & Yields ing the twin market perfor- from N9.912 trillion recorded The insurance sub-sector 07-Oct-11 6.75 28-Jan-21 7.41 7.17the financial 96.83 services 97.97secof mance measures, the NSE500.00the previous day. ASI and market capitalisa-500.00 At the12-Jul-18 close of trading, tor was the96.00 most active97.16 (mea12-Jul-13 5.13 6.43 6.05 tion to drop by 0.24 per cent. only 14 stocks appreciated in sured by turnover volume); 12-Jul-13 6.38 12-Jul-23 24 others 7.67that 7.49 167 million 92.05 shares 93.07 Market watchers had con-500.00price as against with worth tinued to attribute the negadepreciated in value. N91.7 billion exchanged by 1,500.00 tive trajectory, which has led investors in 105 deals. 1,424.44 Mansard Insurance Plc to substantive aggregate in- advanced by five per cent to Volume in the sub-sector vestment loss to sell pressure close at N3.15 per share to was largely driven by activi01-Feb-11 11.50 01-Feb-16 87.00 55.00 55.00 in the shares of Mutual occasioned by uncertainty in450.00lead the gainers’ table,87.00 while ties 19-May-11 7.50 500.00 19-May-16 6.98 6.98 100.63 100.63 the political terrain as build Portland Paints followed Benefit Assurance Plc. 25-Jul-12 7.25 350.00 25-Jul-17 11.25 11.25 91.50 91.50 up to 2005 elections gathers300.00with 4.8602-May-18 per cent to close at Also, other financial ser09-May-13 6.88 12.01 11.24 86.38 88.25 momentum. N3.88 per share. Union Dicon vices sub sector of the finan08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 9.86 9.01 88.05 90.51 08-Apr-12 10.25 08-Apr-19 37.52 per 30.51 services 44.38 53.67 The key market perfor-300.00Plc appreciated by 4.31 cial sector, boosted 22-Apr-14 6.25 22-Apr-19 at N13.80 9.22 per 9.22 activities 89.75in the shares 89.75 mance measures, the NSE500.00cent to close by 21-May-14 8.75 14.70 13.52 81.42 84.74 All Share Index and market200.00share. 21-May-19 of FCMB Plc, followed with 07-Aug-13 8.25 300.00 07-Aug-20 9.98 9.98 92.00 92.00 On the flip side, shares of capitalisation, dropped by 0.24 a turnover of 103.2 million 09-Dec-13 6.63 360.00 09-Dec-20 27.85 27.85 40.25 40.25 per cent as market Plc depreciated shares valued 24-Jun-14 9.25 sentiments 400.00 RT Briscoe 24-Jun-21 12.73 12.41 85.00 at N549.8 86.25 bil23-Jul-14 8.00 23-Jul-21 11.38 11.38 in 829 deals. 84.00 84.00 remained on a negative note.450.00by 7.89 per cent to close at 70 lion 124.44

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

4,760.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

22-Jan-15

3,790.70

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 for10.69 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. 29-Jan-15 10.44 10.71 FGN

14 21 28 Bonds 35 42 49 Rating/Agency 56 63 70 77 84 91 98 105 112 119 NA 133 140 154 196 224 315 329 350

5-Feb-15 12-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 12-Mar-15 Issuer 19-Mar-15 26-Mar-15 2-Apr-15 9-Apr-15 16-Apr-15 23-Apr-15 30-Apr-15 7-May-15 14-May-15 21-May-15 NA 4-Jun-15 11-Jun-15 25-Jun-15 6-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 3-Dec-15 17-Dec-15 7-Jan-16

11.00 10.35 10.65 10.51 10.65 11.49 Description 10.31 12.65 4.00 23-APR-2015 11.98 13.05 16-AUG-2016 11.85 15.10 27-APR-2017 12.75 12.85 9.85 27-JUL-2017 13.10 9.35 31-AUG-2017 12.30 10.70 30-MAY-2018 12.60 16.00 29-JUN-2019 13.05 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.65 16.39 27-JAN-2022 13.90 14.20 14-MAR-2024 14.00 13.05 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.30 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.60 8.50 20-NOV-2029 13.55 10.00 23-JUL-2030 13.85

12.1493 18-JUL-2034

10.75 10.10 10.40 10.26 10.40 11.24 Issue Date 10.06 12.40 23-Apr-10 11.73 16-Aug-13 11.60 27-Apr-12 12.50 12.60 27-Jul-07 12.85 31-Aug-07 12.05 30-May-08 12.35 29-Jun-12 12.80 23-Oct-09 13.40 27-Jan-12 13.65 14-Mar-14 13.75 12.80 28-Nov-08 13.05 22-May-09 13.35 20-Nov-09 13.30 23-Jul-10 13.60

18-Jul-14

11.05 10.41 10.74 10.62 10.78 11.67 Coupon (%) 10.48 12.93 4.00 12.26 13.05 12.15 15.10 13.14 13.28 9.85 13.58 9.35 12.75 10.70 13.11 16.00 13.63 7.00 14.36 16.39 14.68 14.20 14.88 14.03 15.00 14.48 12.49 15.41 8.50 15.44 10.00 15.97

Bonds

12.1493

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

4,855.63

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

4,412.51

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

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

OBB

9.00

O/N

9.58

REPO

Tenor Call TTM (Yrs) 1M 3M 0.25 6M

Maturity Date

535.00 NITTY 23-Apr-15 581.39 16-Aug-16 Tenor Rate (%) 476.80 27-Apr-17 1M 10.6887 2M 11.9782 20.00 27-Jul-17 3M 12.8771 100.00 31-Aug-17 6M 14.6260 300.00 30-May-18 9M 14.8758 351.30 29-Jun-19 12M 16.1070 233.90 23-Oct-19 600.00 27-Jan-22 434.68 14-Mar-24 NIFEX 75.00 28-Nov-28 Current Price ($/N) 150.00 22-May-29 BID($/N) 191.2000 200.00 20-Nov-29 OFFER ($/N) 191.3000 591.57 23-Jul-30 206.00 18-Jul-34

*for the Amortising bonds, theVALUE average life is calculated and not the duration TOTAL OUTSTANDING #

Rate (%) 9.2917 13.1106 14.2324 15.4591

FMBN Buckets Modified Duration

<3 ***LCRM 3<5

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

>5 Market

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 450.53 452.80 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 1,371.47 1,365.98 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

552.94

769.57

2,374.94

2,588.34

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

09-Dec-11 17.49 20-Apr-12 52.77 06-Jul-12

29.73

100.00

0.00 Weighting by Mkt Value 17.25

1.56 14.88 14.76 2.26 15.33 15.25 2.51 15.39 15.31 :Benchmarks 2.61 15.38 15.31 * :Amortising Bond 3.35 15.37 15.25 µ :Convertible Bond 4.43 15.34 15.24 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 4.75Government of Nigeria 15.38 15.27 FGN: Federal 7.01 Mortgage Bank15.43 15.37 FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 9.14 Finance Corporation 15.48 15.41 IFC: International LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables 13.85 14.79 Management 14.74 NAHCO: Nigerian 14.33 Aviation Handling 14.70 Company 14.64 O/N: Overnight 14.83 14.61 14.54 UPDC: UAC Property Development Company 15.50 15.05 14.98 WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company 19.49 15.82 15.76

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

0.00/16.00 18.97 0.00/16.50 57.75 0.00/16.50

23.28

100.00

24.56 2.70 112.22 116.70 0.17 66.49 0.53

Bucket Weighting

322.670.30 1.00

311.08

14.04 14.62 13.46 15.78

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer 2M Yield (%) 3M 6M 12.83 1Y

NOTE:

Maturity Date

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

Agency Bonds

Rate (%)

Bid7.83 Yield (%)

Tenor

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

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-177.58 49.34 06-Jul-17

0.33 1.20 1.88 15.33 2.24 15.43 2.45

100.00

43.08

# Risk Premium (%)

Offer ($/N)

188.10 188.20 188.39 188.50 Price 188.68 188.83 189.38 189.84 190.66 191.66 Bid Price Offer Price 191.93 193.43 196.30 199.28 97.68 97.83 205.64 211.22

97.50 97.65 99.50 99.65 88.80 88.95 NA :Not 87.42 Applicable 87.57 # :Floating Rate Bond 88.06 88.36 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 102.05 102.35 72.73 ‡ : Bond72.43 rating under review 104.30 †: Bond104.00 rating expired 94.10 N/A :Not93.80 Available {r} :Issuer in receivership101.48 101.18 86.89 87.19 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 63.33 63.63 UBA: United Bank for Africa 70.00 70.30 78.00 78.30

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

15.24

2.00 118.9285 1.00 119.8815 1.00 85.3269

16.26 94.81 YTD Return (%) 17.48 99.85 17.13 98.30 1,129.58 1.9614 16.29 96.63 1,015.11 0.2509 16.37 93.28 997.62 0.9328

15.34

109.4410

1,045.07 -

0.9589

Implied Yield

2.63 Implied Portfolio Price 2.27

Bid ($/N)

INDEX

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.61

4.44

18.69

96.58

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.44

3.23

17.06

99.03

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.96

4.46

19.74

95.42

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.96

3.48

18.76

97.50

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.24

1.00

16.28

88.54

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.51

1.00

15.94

97.34

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.94

1.79

17.17

92.89

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

Okorie: I will remove immunity clause for president, others Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

he presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, yesterday declared that he would remove the immunity clause from the nation’s constitution as a way of ensuring that high political office holders including the president, vice president, governors and their deputies are made to answer to criminal deeds while in office. Okorie, who made the declaration in Owerri,

the Imo State Capital during the presidential and governorship flag off the party, said if elected, public declaration of assets for public office holders would be made compulsory and reviewed periodically. Stressing that security votes would be strictly tied to security and be ac-

11.91%

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Argentina in 2003. Source: Itu.int

counted for annually, the UPP presidential hopeful said his administration would strengthen the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related matters Commission (ICPC) for efficiency. “The laws establish-

175.4m

ing these anti-corruption agencies shall be reviewed to make their service delivery prompt and effective, my government shall explore the establishment of special courts for corruption related offences and election malpractices that violate the electoral laws.” Okorie who doubles

The total number of connected mobile (GSM) lines of Nigeria in July 2014. Source: Ncc.gov.ng

as the National Chairman and presidential candidate of the party disclosed further that his administration would engage the services of international anti-corruption agencies to track down ill-gotten wealth belonging to Nigeria siphoned overseas through dubious means.

68%

Also, addressing the crowd, the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Dr. Osmond Imo Ukanacho noted that his government, if elected, would embark on critical interventions in the areas of waste management, industrialization and qualitative education.

443

The percentage of the urban The number of confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease infection population of Ecuador in 2012. in health-care workers in affected areas as at October 19, 2014. Source: Un.org Source: Who.int

APGA vows to sweep Anambra polls Okegwo Kenechukwu

head of the February 2015 general election in Anambra state, a chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Senator Alphonsus Igbeke, has declared that all the candidates of the party would emerge victorious at the polls. Speaking at the reception held in honour of the party stakeholders and candidates of the APGA for national and state assembly elections in Anambra North Senatorial District, Igboeke, observed that the chances of the candidates of the ruling party is very bright following the superlative achievements of Governor Willie Obiano, who has made positive impact on the lives of the people of Anambra state. Igbeke pointed out that with the good performance of the governor, what is left for the candidates is to embark on enlightening campaign that would turn the tide against their rival contestants in the coming elections. He urged them to go to the nooks and crannies of their constituencies to reach out to the people for votes, noting that as the ruling party with good score card as shown in the performance of its governor, the party is expected to clear the polls in the coming election in the state. Corroborating Ig-

L-R: Manager, St. Patrick’s Secondary School, Obollo-Eke, Rev. Fr. John Martins Chikan; Deputy Director General of the PDP National Campaign Council and former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi and students, St. Patrick’s Secondary School, Obollo-Eke, during the presentation of a cheque of N2 million to the school by Obi in Enugu State

Obiano promises rehabilitation of rural roads Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

overnor Willie Obiano of Anambra AState, has said that his administration would soon commence the rehabilitation of the Igbariam inland roads in line with his administration’s commitment to open up the rural areas for the enhancement of the lives of the of people of the communities. Speaking during the recent launching of Elder Raymond Anikpe Foundation for the less privileged at Ugwuoji, Igbariam, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, Obiano, expressed the regret

that rich and privileged people of the state tend to abdicate their responsibility in contributing to society, stating that their efforts would have gone a long way in the eradication of poverty and empower the rural dwellers. The governor, then called on Ndi Anambra, indigenes at home and in the diaspora, to imbibe the spirit of giving back to their society, in order to develop various communities in the state. He commended the financer of the Lawrence Anikpe Foundation for their forward looking mindedness, stating that apart from the intent of instituting the foundation in honour of the

elder states man, such philanthropic effort, is worthy of emulation by other philanthropic organizations and individuals in the state . In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion , Chief Sir Ben Emeka, called on wealthy people in the Omambala region, to emulate Chief Anikpe, who instituted the foundation aimed at transforming the lives of his people. President of the foundation, Chief Lawrence Anikpe (Onwa Igbariam), said that he instituted the foundation to give widows and the less privileged in the community a sense of belonging as well as reduce the level of poverty in the society.

Only education will ensure your future, Obi tells students

he former Governor of Anambra State and Deputy Director of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), national campaign Council in the South-East, Mr. Peter Obi, has challenged the students of St. Patrick’s Secondary School, Obollo Eke in Enugu State, to

strive to achieve greatness by taking their academic pursuit seriously. He expressed the position during his visited to the school recently. Obi, who presented a cheque of two million naira to the school said it was his little contribution to them for infrastruc-

ture up grade for quality and sustainable training aimed at making them better citizens in future. He noted that with good education, they would have the requisite known-how to compete with others in future. Obi, said he had to break from the campaign

to be with the students because the man he was campaigning for, President Goodluck Jonathan, was also in love with education and had done so much to improve education in the country as part of the Transformation Agenda of his Government.

SURE-P empowers 3,000 women, youths in Imo Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

o fewer than 3,000 women and youths from Imo North senatorial district of Imo state have so far benefitted from the Federal Government’s Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) scheme, in the area of employment. The Coordinator of the programme in the zone, Princess Miriam Onuoha, stated this yesterday while addressing a crowd of a pro – Goodluck Jonathan group known as “Mass Movement Initiative (MMI) at the Ugiri Local Government Area Development Centre, Isiala Mbano. The movement was put in place by the Imo State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie and his wife, Oby Anyaehie as part of measures to fast track the re-election project of President Goodluck Jonathan next month. Princess Onuoha, who is running for the

Okigwe North Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives under the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) dismissed as baseless and frivolous, allegations by the Imo State government of lack of federal presence in the South East, attributing the allegation to the desperation of the state government to retain power through undeserved sympathy. Describing president Jonathan as the best thing to have happened to the people of the South East in recent times, Onuoha cited the ongoing construction of the Second Niger Bridge, upgrading of the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu to an international airport, revival of rail lines, building of primary health centres and appointment of some Igbo sons and daughters into key government positions as among indicators of Federal Government’s love for the people of the zone.

News

Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

he war of words between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the planned rally for President Goodluck Jonathan at the Adokie Amasieamaka Stadium got messier yesterday as the PDP accused Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, of plotting to disrupt the rally.

Jonathan’s late sister for burial today

resident Goodluck Jonathan’s younger sister, Mrs. Nancy Jonathan-Olei, who died on Sunday, January 4, will be buried today in Otuoke, Bayelsa State. A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, said Mrs. Jonathan-Olei’s body will leave the Otuoke Comprehensive Hospital Mortuary at 9.00am for her residence in Otuoke, according to the burial programme issued on behalf of the Jonathan and Otazi families of Otuoke. Jonathan-Olei’s remains, the statement said, will be received by members of her family at her residence and moved to the Patience Jonathan Square for a Service of Songs scheduled to begin by 10.00am.

Rivers PDP, APC fight gets dirtier The APC has equally accused Chief Nyesome Wike, the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP of attempts to hijack the Four-Point Agenda of its governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside. The PDP alleged that the governor wants to mobilise his supporters if the party goes ahead with the rally, noting that he had in a radio interview, cast as-

Yenagoa

ngry youths in Odi community, Kolokuma/Opokuma community in Bayelsa State, yesterday confirmed the sacking of 10 of the community’s chiefs for their involvement in the missing N900 million out of the N15 billion compensation awarded by the court over the 1999 Odi military invasion. The irate youths also withdrew the traditional beads of the concerned chiefs over the issue. The N15 billion compensation, which was paid last month by the Federal Government in compliance with the order of a court that compensation be paid for the invasion and the destruction caused by the military under the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, had sparked off protest and attacks over allegation of diversion.

persions on the President. “The PDP wants Amaechi to note that there is a difference between him and the state and by extension, state-owned institutions and should stop acting as though these institutions are his personal property,” said its chairman, Felix Obuah, in a statement. The PDP also said the comment credited

133m

to Amaechi was capable of throwing the state into confusion, stressing that the governor has no right to deny the party the use of the stadium. Similarly, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, in a statement, said Wike was not prepared to lead the state and therefore lacks what it takes to win. Ikanya said: “This attempt by Wike to steal our

The estimated transfer cost of Cristiano The life expectancy of women at birth of Ronaldo of Real Madrid in 2015. Barbados in 2010-2015. Source: Finance.yahoo.com Source: Un.org

candidate’s ideas is entirely not surprising, because he is a man without principles, who has been campaigning without any defined agenda for the development and emancipation of Rivers State, than the spreading of violence. “The truth is that Wike is not prepared for the serious job of governing a complex state like Rivers and was conscripted

47,964

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions of Lesotho in 2005. Source: Itu.int

into the race by his paymasters in Abuja as a ploy by the PDP and the Presidency to deny the riverine part of Rivers an opportunity to have a shot at the seat of power after 16 years of governorship by the Upland part of the state, out of which Wike’s kinsman, Amaechi, would have spent eight years by May 29, 2015 as governor,” Ikanya said.

1.13m

The estimated number of almajiri school enrollment in North-Central Nigeria in 2010. Source: Nigeria.usembassy.gov

L-R: Delta State PDP Governorship candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa; Ovie of Ozoro Kingdom, His Majesty, Anthony Uvietobore Ogbogbo, Ibuka I and Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Governor, Sir Sunny Areh, when the PDP flag bearer paid a courtesy visit to the Ovie’s palace before the party’s campaign rally in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government…on Tuesday.

Angry Odi youths sack 10 chiefs over missing N900m Chris Ejim

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-SOUTH

New Telegraph gathered that out of the initial N15 billion paid, a total of 40 per cent was reportedly deducted at source by the consortium of lawyers engaged by the community. Youths of the community, according to reports, attacked the homes of some prominent elders in the community over their roles in the alleged disappearance of over N600 million, which they claimed was deducted by the Odi Invasion Case Committee headed by some prominent indigenes as payment for their efforts to secure the compensation. It was also gathered that 10 members of the Chiefs Council, including the Deputy Chief, Chief Ebitimi Karouiru, were sacked by the angry youths. A member of the community’s youth leadership confirmed that the Chief of Odi community, Chief Sine Akpere, was not sacked due to the long processes involved.

Emmanuel: I’ll continue with Akpabio’s programmes T he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has pledged to continue with the programmes of Governor Godswill Akpabio, if given the mandate in next month’s elections. Emmanuel, who stated this at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship campaign at Ikot Ekpene Stadium, also promised to carry the youths along, carry out a census of unem-

ployed youths in order to employ them in jobs that would be created by his administration. He further promised to carry the widows and the women along by sustaining their welfare and giving them their rightful place in the society. The PDP candidate said his target would be to establish Ikot Ekpene International Market to attract investors to the state. Governor Akpabio, who said the state won’t allow propaganda to come

into the state, remarked: “As a PDP state, we won’t allow propaganda to come into our state through opposition parties. “Marginalisation has been ruled out in Akwa Ibom State. Indeed, PDP has brought transformation to our state and our country through industrialization. So, the PDP is owned by all of you and not by an individual.” The governor further said he was impressed by the massive turn out of PDP faithful for the cam-

I50 PDP elders back Okowa’s candidacy Dominic Adewole, ASABA

t least 150 elders and leaders in Delta State yesterday declared their support for the candidacy of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship flag bearer in the February 28 election in the state. The endorsement, New

Telegraph gathered, was to weaken the plot by the Urhobo Political Union (UPU) to create an upset by adopting a sole candidate against Okowa. UPU candidate will, expectedly, emerge from one of the two rival parties in the state - the Labour Party (LP), represented by Chief Great Ogboru and the All

Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief O’tega Emerhor. Already, the duo of Ogboru and Emerhor, have since last month, been shuttling the 15 kingdoms making up Urhobo land, lobbying to be the union’s sole candidate. The elders and leaders, predominantly of the ruling party, PDP,

paign, stressing that the massive crowd was an indication that the people of Ikot Ekpene supported his senatorial ambition and the ambition of President Jonathan for a second term. Earlier, the governor had paid homage to the paramount ruler of Ikot Ekpene, Edidem Okuku Augustus Assiak, at his residence and presented Emmanuel to him as the PDP governorship candidate in the state, asking the monarch and his people to support him. vowed to take their destiny in their hands. The elders, comprising 50 each from the three senatorial districts of the state led by their Coordinators, Chief Emmanuel Ogidi (Delta South), Chief Godswill Obielum (North) and Dr. Chris Oghenechovwen (Central), converged on a popular inn in Asaba yesterday, threw their weight behind Okowa.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

News 49

NORTH

Borno residents urge INEC to extend voters’ registration Ahmed Miringa MAIDUGURI

orried that they could be disenfranchised, residents of Maiduguri and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have called on the Indepen-

Ahmed approves pay rise for civil servants Biodun Oyeleye

dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the period of the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and continuous registration in the state. Sole Administrator of Borno Radio and Television stations (BRTV), Alhaji Baba-Kura Abba-

65.3%

Jato, yesterday, called on INEC to extend the ongoing distribution of PVCs and continuous registration so as to enable those who have reached voting age to register. Abba-Jato said: “Many people have not registered for one reason or the other. The extension

The percentage of the urban population in El Salvador in 2012. Source: Un.org

will enable them to register. And with the continuous displacements of people from their villages, Borno State deserves to be given a special attention and treatment by INEC.” He noted that the extension was not being advocated only in Bor-

12.7

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of developing countries in 2005. Source: Itu.int

no, but in some parts of the country and that it will give more Nigerians the opportunity to exercise their civic responsibilities and give credibility to the forthcoming general elections. The Borno media station boss, who spoke dur-

7,554

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

ing a meeting with members of the Borno Unity Forum, said all clubs and associations in the state had enormous responsibilities to perform by enlightening not only their members, but all eligible voters to come out to register or obtain their PVCs.

N132.1m

The IGR realized from direct assessment sources in Ondo State in 2010. Source: National Bureau of Statistics

ILORIN

wara State governor, Alhaji Abdul-Fattah Ahmed, has approved the annual salary increment for civil servants in the state, just as the state lamented that it recorded a N2 billion shortfall from the federal revenue allocation for the month of January. The state’s Head of Service, Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed who announced the increment, said it would take effect from next month because the Ministry of Finance had prepared vouchers to cover January wages in line with the promise by the governor to ensure workers were paid as due. Mohammed said the increment, which will shoot the state’s wage bill by another N100 million monthly, would be catered for through the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). He pointed out that despite the continued reduction in the state’s allocation, Kwara remains one of the few states in Nigeria that is still able to pay their workers promptly. He also announced the approval of another set of N250 million by the governor for the training and retraining of civil servants in order to make them more vibrant and effective in their service delivery obligations. Meanwhile, while briefing newsmen in Ilorin, the state capital, after the meeting of the Joint Account Allocation Committee, Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu said due to the shortfall, the state has had to augment allocations to local government areas by as much as N310 million for the month of January. He said the augmentation was meant to ensure the councils were in a position to meet their monthly obligations to workers and handle other commitments, even as he urged the Federal Government to stop the recurring reduction in allocation on time because it was affecting most states of the federation negatively.

President Gooluck Jonathan and his Vice, Namadi Sambo, during the Presidential rally in Buachi…yesterday

Kwara speaker preaches 25 LGAs in Niger to spend N59.2bn peace among Yoruba, Dan Atori Fulani communities T Biodun Oyeleye MINNA

ILORIN

peaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Razaq Atunwa, has called on members of the Fulani and Yoruba communities living in Asa Local Government Area of the state to continue in their recent declaration of peace as no meaningful development could be attained in an atmosphere permeated by rancour and acrimony. Atunwa made the call during a solidarity rally by Fulani in Agbonna Onire District to raise support for his candidature as the All Progressives Congress’ flagbearer for the House of Representatives in Ilorin West/Asa Federal Con-

stituency. The Speaker, who was visibly elated over the solidarity rally by the Fulani, preached love and forgiveness between Fulani herdsmen and Yoruba in the area. He explained that only an APC-led government in Nigeria could restore hope, stability and development of the nation. He called on the people of Asa Local Government to vote massively for the APC, pointing out that the local government had benefited tremendously from the APC- led government in the state. He assured that the party would not disappoint them if voted into power at all levels. The Fulani pledged to vote massively for all the APC candidates in the February general elections to enhance the success of the party.

he 25 local government councils in Niger State are to spend over N59.2 billion for the recurrent and capital expenditure this year. Of the amount, N48.8bn will be sourced from the statutory allocation while the Value Added Tax (VAT) will generate N6.8bn and N900,

000 000 will come in from 10% of state Internally Generated Revenue. The local government Internally Generated Revenue will bring in N638.9m and the Sure-P will contribute N2.1bn. The overseeing Commissioner for the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, who disclosed this to newsmen in Minna yesterday, said the bud-

get proposal will be presented to the House of Assembly for approval. Wuse, who was represented at the post-exco briefing by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alhaji Mohammed Rijau, said the total recurrent expenditure of the budget is N41.5bn out of which personnel cost will gulp N15.9bn, overhead cost N8.3bn and consolidated fund charges, N17.2bn.

Kogi West grossly misrepresented in Senate, says Melaye Temitope Ogunbanke

ogi West Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Otunba Dino Melaye, has said his people have been grossly misrepresented in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly in the last eight years. Speaking in Lokoja while donating water pumping machines to

the people of Karaworo area of Ward C in Lokoja Local Government Area, Melaye promised to provide adequate and quality representation if elected into the Red Chamber during the February 14 National Assembly election. He said his decision to provide the pumping machines came after several pleas to the Peoples Democratic Party-led Kogi

State government by the community for urgent intervention to their water situation fell on deaf ears. Also speaking at the event, an APC chieftain, Mallam Abdulmalik Suleiman, alleged that the people had been poorly represented by the incumbent senator, Smart Adeyemi, in the last eight years at the National Assembly, saying an APC senator will perform better.

50 WORLD | News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Yemeni President, cabinet resign Y

emeni President AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi resigned yesterday, a government source said. Just before, Prime Minister Khaled Baha offered his government’s resignation to Hadi, saying it did not want to be dragged into “an unconstructive political maze”. This was an apparent refer-

ence to a stand-off between Hadi and Yemen’s powerful Houthi movement. The government headed by Bahah has presented its resignation to the head of state,” the source said. The Huthi militia, who have controlled most of the capital since last September, had opened fire on Bahah’s convoy on Mon-

day and then laid siege to his residence, only allowing him to leave Wednesday. Prime Minister Bahah’s resignation came as the U.N envoy to the Arab world’s poorest country met with representatives from the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis and other political factions to try to implement

a deal reached two days ago to end the crisis. Under the agreement -- struck while the rebels confined Hadi in his private home, the group’s militias were to withdraw from the presidential palace and key areas of the capital they have overrun in recent days in return for political concessions. It remains unclear who really controls the country and how much power is still in the hands of Hadi, whose government is viewed as a key U S ally in the fight against alQaida. Twenty-four hours after signing the deal, heavily armed Shiite rebels remained

stationed outside Hadi’s house and the presidential palace. Bahah’s technocratic government was formed in November as part of a United Nations-brokered peace deal after the Houthis overran the capital in September. Bahah, a political independent, posted his resignation on his official Facebook page, saying he had held office in “very complicated circumstances.” He says he resigned in order to “avoid being dragged into an abyss of unconstructive policies based on no law.” “We don’t want to be a party to what is happening or will happen,” he added.

Liberia cremates 2,800 Ebola bodies

T Liberian Ministry of Health workers unloading the bodies of ebola victims onto a funeral pyre for cremation.

Bloody bus attack in Ukraine

t least 41 people were killed in Ukraine’s east on yesterday, one of the deadliest days in the separatist war, with a bloody bus shelling in Donetsk as government forces abandoned their defence of the city’s strategic airport. In a graphic illustration of the degenerating nine-month conflict, pro-Russian rebels also paraded some 20 captured Ukrainian soldiers through Donetsk and forced them to kneel before enraged locals who threw snowballs and glass at them, some of it from the shattered bus. The trolleybus shelling in the rebel bastion city was the day’s bloodiest incident, with 13 civilians killed and Kiev alleging that ultimate blame for the tragedy rested with Russia. The violence came only hours after peace talks in Berlin called for a ceasefire and as the toll from the conflict surpassed 5,000 dead, with a million people also forced from their homes.

Another 10,000 have been wounded by rocket and mortar strikes raining down daily on the industrial region’s residential districts, Michael Bociurkiw of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe told Ukrainian radio. With intensifying clashes rocking Donetsk airport in recent days, Ukraine’s military said early yesterday that its troops had abandoned most of the site. The airport had become the symbolic prize of the conflict, with the army and rebels continuously battling for control. Defence officials said fighting continued around the ruins of the air hub -- once one of eastern Europe’s most modern and busiest -- but they admitted that government forces controlled little more than a few isolated buildings on its outskirts. The trolleybus shelling was among the bloodiest incidents involving civilians in recent months in a conflict that has

devastated the ex-Soviet republic’s industrial heartland and brought Ukraine’s economy to its knees. Stunned Donetsk residents gathered around the shredded remains of the bus, with bloodied bodies of elderly victims sprawled in their seats hours after the attack and local militias cautiously inspecting the damage. An official with the city’s emergency services said 12 people died in the bus while another was killed in a passing car. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the attack “a monstrous crime” whose ultimate responsiblity rested with “’the party of war’ in Kiev and its foreign sponsors.” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk made similar charges against Moscow, accusing the insurgents of committing “a horrible act against humanity.”. “And responsiblity for this is borne by the Russian Federation,” Yatsenyuk said.

Sanction: European ministers plead for Iran

our leading European foreign policy officials yesterday warned that new sanctions legislation against Iran could torpedo efforts to secure a long-term agreement with Tehran to curb its nuclear program. The plea, in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, appeared to be directed at the Republican-controlled U S Congress weighing new sanctions, even though the piece did not explicitly mention U S lawmak-

ers. It was by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Some prominent U S lawmakers are calling for new sanctions to further pressure Iran to compromise in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with six world powers. That would be a mistake, the Eu-

ropeans cautioned. “Introducing new hurdles at this critical stage of the negotiations, including through additional nuclear-related sanctions legislation on Iran, would jeopardize our efforts at a critical juncture,” they wrote. “While many Iranians know how much they stand to gain by overcoming isolation and engaging with the world, there are also those in Tehran who oppose any nuclear deal,” the ministers said.

he Liberian government said 2,800 bodies have so far been cremated following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. This was disclosed by the head of the National Ebola Burial Team, Ciatta Bishop, when she provided an Ebola update at a regular press briefing two days ago. Bishop told reporters that the cremation and burial teams collected over 2,800 bodies across the country during the process for burial and cremation. She also said no infection or death occurred among those cremating or burying Ebola bodies during the fight against the virus. “Even though they were stigmatised and rejected by some communities and families, they actually stood up and held on to defending their country,” Bishop said. The Ebola team was set up in August 2014, when the virus overwhelmed the country due to lack of coordination and facilities to dispose of the Ebola dead. Health authorities in the country say the drastic reduction in the number of cases

and 12 of the 15 counties not reporting cases for a long time is an indication the virus is about to be defeated. In Liberia alone, 3,496 people have died from the virus in the latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) data showed. However, case incidence has declined to low levels in the country, the WHO said in its update released. In a related development, Sierra Leone said yesterday it would reopen schools across the country in March, eight months after they were closed because of the deadly Ebola epidemic slowing throughout West Africa. Classrooms have been empty since the government announced a state of emergency in July in response to an outbreak which has killed almost 9,000 people in the region, more than 3,000 of them in Sierra Leone. A statement from President Ernest Bai Koroma’s office quoted him as saying “a timely reopening” was needed to limit the damage caused by the crisis to children’s education.

DR Congo delays vote on contested law after deadly protests

enators in the Democratic Republic of Congo delayed a vote yesterday on hotly contested legislation that would extend President Joseph Kabila’s rule, following days of deadly clashes between protesters and police. The decision to put off the vote until Friday came with fresh violence in the east and tensions still running high in the capital Kinshasa where rights groups say as many as 42 people have been killed this week. A Senate official told AFP the session was now scheduled for 0800 GMT Friday because a committee had not finished examining the legislation which was approved by the lower house at the weekend. Opposition groups have risen up in protest against what they

have branded a “constitutional coup d’etat”. The draft bill would enable Kabila, who has been in power in the troubled central African country for 14 years, to extend his term beyond 2016 when his second mandate ends. Kinshasa was largely calm yesterday, although there was a large police presence around the parliament and the city’s flashpoint university. But police opened fire on protesters in Goma, the main city in the mineral-rich east, and used tear gas to repel rockhurling youths building street barricades, an AFP correspondent said. The mayor of Goma which lies about 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) from the capital also announced that all schools would be closed until Monday in order “to ensure that calm has returned”.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Sport News

International Sport

AFCON 2015

FIBA Africa 3x3: Nigeria takes delivery of floors

Real beat Man United to top spot

Tunisia edge wasteful Zambia

Sport T Azarenka

Did you know? That highest attendance in the EPL is 76,398. It was Man Utd vs. Blackburn match in 2007

Australian Open: Azarenka ousts Wozniacki

wo-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is through to the third round after beating former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-2 in a second round match-up on Thursday. Despite finishing 2010 and 2011 as the world’s number one, Wozniacki has yet to win a Grand Slam in 32 attempts and she is going backwards in

terms of progress at the Australian Open. After reaching the semifinals in 2011, she has since been knocked out in the quarter-finals, then the fourth round, third round and now the second. “I think it’s a curse I’ve gotten here,” she said. “Hopefully I’m going to break that next year and start going the other way. “At the end of the day, she

Home Eagles

played better than me today (Thursday), and hats off to that. I just need to go back and work hard. “It’s early, still the beginning of the year, so I still have 10 months to make up for this. Hopefully, it’s still going to be a good year.” Azarenka delighted the crowd by dancing on court to celebrate victory and she will next face Czech 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova,

while a quarter-final date with Serena Williams could lie ahead. “It’s really satisfying to be able to play again,” said Azarenka. “Sometimes, of course, there’s pressure, there’s tough moments, but just to be able to go through all those emotions again, it’s really fun. “I think my net game went pretty well, I think I took those chances and really went for it. I’m mostly pleased about that.”

Dosu urges NFF to confirm Amokachi l Wants monthly

matches for team

Home-based Eagles in action against South Africa

Emmanuel Tobi

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

ormer Nigeria international, Joseph Dosu, has called on the Nigeria Football Federation to confirm Daniel Amokachi as the official coach of the homebased Super Eagles to complement the ongoing rebuilding process. The home-based Super Eagles, under the tutelage of Amokachi, defeated Yemen 2-0 in an international friendly last week in Dubai, five days after losing by a lone goal to Cote d’Ivoire in an evenly matched encounter in Abu Dhabi. Goals from Mfon Udoh and Azubuike Egwuekwe were all the Eagles needed to bounce back to winning ways against the Yemenis following that

painful 1-0 defeat to the Ivoirians. And Dosu said: “We used to have the Super Eagles Team B in the past but the project was scrapped. The introduction of the CHAN tournament by CAF for the development of domestic league players has revived the need for the team. “The leadership of the NFF should confirm Amokachi as the coach of the home-based Eagles to be supported by (goalkeepers’ trainer) Ike Shorunmu and they can always work with Stephen Keshi if the NFF wants to retain

him.” The former Super Eagles goalkeeper added that the development of home-based players started by Keshi a few years back should not be scrapped stressing that the project was instrumental to Nigeria’s triumph at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa where a substantial number of players in the squad were picked from the Nigerian league. “Amokachi should be saddled with the responsibility of visiting league venues and local competitions to watch and identify players who will meet

and play matches every month,” continued Dosu. “This will help the team to create cohesion as well as unity among the players because the homebased Eagles did well in their Asian tour against Cote d’Ivoire and Yemen.” The Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games gold medallist went on to highlight the need for regular matches for the team. “The team can be made to play against the league leaders and other neighbouring countries every month to prepare the players for the CHAN qualifiers, as well as the main Super Eagles,” he said.

SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

It’s time to resolve NFF impasse

igeria as a nation has been living a lie all these months, pretending that all is well with its football, even in the midst of the nauseating stench oozing out from the cesspit called the Nigeria Football Federation. One of the highpoints of this ugly trend was watching the NFF head office, the Glass House, go up in flames in broad daylight, and the Nigerian public has not been officially informed what ignited the fire and why there was a rush to clean the debris. It is also ironic that every structure that supports good governance and unfettered football administration has virtually collapsed, while our administrators at the highest echelon of government continue to play the ostrich. Are they not seeing what is going on, or has it become the more you look, the less you see? Apart from the dismal performance by the Super Eagles at the last World Cup, despite getting to the second round, that the nation could not defend the Africa Cup of Nations trophy, won in South Africa in 2013, shows how contending interests have conspired to ruin the progress recorded. In fact, every indicator used in measuring performance appears to have failed, leaving the nation wallowing in the synagogue of confusion.

Since the last mundial, it has been a tale of unending crisis. Rather than create an atmosphere for sober reflection that would enable administrators come up with better winning strategies, we have been swimming from one pool of controversy to another. The vaunting ambition of most of the former NFF board members to continue in office in defiance of the statutes, contributed in no small measure in stoking the embers. The argument might be that their ambition was in tandem with FIFA’s, where sit-tight leadership is encouraged: Isn’t Sepp Blatter going to complete his third decade as president of FIFA? They however forget that Nigerians have little or no appetite for sit-tight leaders. Their actions culminated in mutual suspicion, bad blood and multiple litigations that have made Nigeria a laughing stock before the world, to the extent that FIFA officials are tired of Nigeria, and have been left with the impression that Nigerians are power-corrupt and the most litigious under the sun. The game of football that ought to be a strong public relations tool and instrument for propagating unity, and burnishing the image of the nation globally, has suddenly become a tool for destabilisation and rancor. It’s high time we paused a little and take a look at the dam-

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it is also ironic that every structure that supports good governance and unfettered football administration has virtually collapsed, while our administrators at the highest echelon of government continue to play the ostrich age this endless strife has caused our football. The combatants in an attempt to inflict collateral damage on one another have inadvertently misfired, thus landing their missiles on what we dearly cherish – the beautiful game. As I sat ruminating over what transpired when we lost the AFCON

qualifier against Congo in Calabar, I was shocked at the backslapping and fist pumping that some members of the past board were extending to one another by a hidden corner as if to say “we have done it.” The reality is that nobody succeeded in undoing coach Stephen Keshi (assuming he was the target), as some would want us to believe, but the entire nation. While the who-iswho in African football will be in Equatorial Guinea, slugging it out, Nigerians will have their eyes glued to their television sets, watching others play. This will adversely affect our global ranking. In fact, we will be lucky if our position does not go below 60 on the overall FIFA ranking very soon. If we must rise from the ashes of defeat, we need to empanel a body of elders – knowledgeable in the game of football and its politics, to bring all combatants to the roundtable. This will go a long way in addressing observed lapses that have trailed past board elec-

Quadri on the spot as ITTF Africa begins

FIBA Africa 3x3: Nigeria takes delivery of floors

Ajibade Olusesan

Ifeanyi Ibeh

IBA Africa Zone 3, led by Colonel Sam Ahmedu (rtd), has taken possession of two basketball courts ahead of the zone’s inaugural three-on-three championship billed for Calabar in March. The courts, which are part of several equipment to be made available to countries that make up FIBA Africa Zone 3, will also be moved from country to country as part of the zone’s annual three-onthree Tour. Ahmedu said that the movement of the facilities, which also include fibre glass uprights, table-tops and wall mounted scoreboards, as well as shot clocks, is to ensure that countries within Zone 3 benefit from them. The countries are Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger and Liberia. “These synthetic floors are just a part of many other things that will follow. Equipment is a major aspect of developing the game and we are committed to ensuring that we have the right tools for the development of the game in the zone,” said Ahmedu. “One major factor affecting the performance of national teams and clubs in the Zone is that of lack of competition and we believe that with the cooperation of national federations we will be able to create better performances for our teams by generating many competitions for players in this zone.”

JOE BOOSTER

tions. The panel will also help to draw a new roadmap for Nigerian football. The dictatorial tendencies of a few desperate officials who want to hold on to power at all cost by blackmailing the entire nation with repeated calls for FIFA sanctions must be curtailed. If we are genuinely sincere, the existing structures have the capacity to resolve all the issues that have been thrown up, particularly when President Goodluck Jonathan stepped in to ask that multiple cases filed in courts by various factions be withdrawn. I believe that if we truly have respect for the nation’s first citizen, practical steps would have been taken to bury the hatchet. I advise that Iyke Igbokwe must be sincerely pacified to embrace the Amaju Pinnickled board. This will be in spite of obvious imperfections that heralded the current NFF board elections. We cannot carry on with this war of attrition that has profited no one. Four years will soon elapse, and those outside today might be the ones to come in. Collectively and sincerely, we must determine to right the wrongs. We could begin by honestly addressing the nagging issues embedded in the NFF statute that actually sparked the crisis. Nigerian football will be great again!

Kano Pillars in action

Mobil: Edet makes case for youths The seasoned coach and Emmanuel Tobi

ormer Athletic Federation of Nigeria head coach, Amelia Edet, has reiterated the need to invest in the youth and sports development. “There is no substitute for talent hunt. There is a limit to the recycling of athletes. It is about age and performance and sooner or later, if you don’t invest in the youth, failure catches up with you,” she said in Lagos. The former national champion was reacting to an invitation to be part of a coaching crew that will fine tune the over 500 students that will be involved in the grand finale of the 14th AKS/NNPC/MPN Schools Athletics Championships, taking place in Uyo from February 6 to 7.

holder of the IAAF Veteran Pin for ‘long and meritorious service to the cause of athletics worldwide’ said what happened in Calabar last year was an eye opener and proof that talent abound in this country. “Courtesy of NNPC and MPN we took about 160 students to Calabar last year and after about two weeks of intensive coaching, there was no doubt that world beaters abound in Nigeria,” she said. “I had pleaded with the consultant of the programme Paul Bassey to ensure that we have more of such. It gladdens me that as many as 500 athletes will be given an opportunity to be exposed to the best of conditions in track and field,” she added.

nternational Table Tennis Federation Player of the Year, Aruna Quadri, will be the star of the show as the 2015 ITTF-African Championship serves off in Cairo today. Egypt is the leading team on the continent but Nigerians expect Quadri to lead a side that will finally overtake the North African country as the number one in Africa. Quadri is the highest ranked player in the tournament, 30th in the world rankings and was earlier

in the year named the best player in the world a success that may put extra pressure on him but he has vowed to overcome that. “It is true that the awards have somehow put me under pressure but working harder and harder will surely make me overcome the pressure. I just have to keep playing just like I have been doing without any fear.” The tournament will open with women teams playing in the first round and experienced Funke Oshonaike is expected to inspire the younger players as they attempt to bounce back to reckoning in Africa.

JigawahostsNOC President,Gumel

Gumel

he government of Jigawa State will roll out the red carpet on on Sunday to honour its illustrious son and President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Habu Gumel. This recognition which holds at the NYSC Camp, will be bestowed on Gumel by the state

governor, Sule Lamido, as a result of the giant strides that Gumel has made in sports administration, as well as engineering, in Nigeria. According to a statement from Dutse, a dinner will also be held in honour of Gumel, who is also an executive member of the International Olympic Committee. Since coming back as President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee after a keenly-contested election in Asaba, Delta State, where he beat former president Sani Ndanusa, Gumel has received congratulatory messages from international sporting bodies as well as stakeholders in Nigeria.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 53

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Football Money League

Transfer News Paulista negotiations ongoing – Wenger

Real beat Man United to top spot

eal Madrid have recorded the biggest revenues in world football for a 10th consecutive season, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League. The Spanish Liga giants claimed a 10th UEFA Champions League crown in 2013/14 and it brought in €549.5m (£459.5m) off the field - an increase of €30.6m

on 2012/13, while the annual study underlined the overall financial might of the Premier League as all 20 English top-flight clubs were represented inside the top 40. Despite missing out on Champions League qualification and recording a disappointing seventhplaced finish during David Moyes’ unhappy season at the helm, Manchester United climbed two places

rsenal manager Arsene Wenger has conA firmed that the club have a “chance” of signing Gabriel Paulista from Villar-

real before the close of the transfer window. The North London outfit have targeted the 24-year-old as they attempt to strengthen the defence, which has suffered numerous injury woes this season. Reports have claimed that there is a £15m buyout clause in Paulista’s contract, but Wenger has remained tightlipped on the fee that Arsenal are willing to meet. “The talks are progressing quite well,” Wenger told reporters.

up the Money League to second, swapping places with Real’s La Liga counterparts Barcelona. United’s figure of €518m meant they were the only club alongside Real to surpass €500m in revenue, placing them ahead of eight Premier League counterparts in the top 20. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain remain third and fifth respectively, with Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool - the latter up from 12th - filling the next four spots.

Chelsea tender £16m bid for Douglas Costa helsea have reportedly launched a Cforward £16m bid to sign Shakhtar Donetsk Douglas Costa.

Djokovic demolishes Kuznetsov

Ronaldo (left) taking on Wilson of Man United

ovak Djokovic cruised into the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Andrey Kuznetsov, wrapping up a 6-0 6-1 6-4 win over the outgunned Russian in just one hour and 24 minutes. Djokovic, who is targeting a record fifth title, preserved his record of reaching the third round at Melbourne Park for a ninth consecutive year. “After my first-round match I was hoping to have this kind of performance, especially the opening two sets,” he said. “Everything went as I planned and wished and hopefully I can stay on this path. “(Kuznetsov) is a very talented player. He’s still young and he’s of the generation of my younger brother (Marko) who knows him well, so I spoke to him because I had not seen Kuznetsov play a lot.”

Two-time capped Brazil international Costa is said to have been on Chelsea’s radar since he was a teenager, when he formed a partnership with current Stamford Bridge favourite Willian during their time together at Shakhtar. However, any transfer could prove difficult with the Ukrainian outfit notoriously difficult to negotiate with, which means that agreeing a fee could take some time. Costa, who has previously spent two years playing for Brazilian side Gremio, has featured in all six of his side’s Champions League games so far this season.

Inter to launch bid for Milner

Milan manager Roberto Mancini is reportedly keen to lure ICity.nter James Milner to the San Siro from Manchester The midfielder’s future has been called into question as talks between the player and City officials have not reached an agreement regarding fresh terms. The 29-year-old,who comes to the end of his current contract in the summer, has been linked to numerous clubs, including Liverpool and Valencia. However, according to the Daily Star, Inter are determined to become the frontrunners by offering a £200,000-a-week pay packet to Milner, who is free to talk to other clubs this month.

Equatorial Guinea 2015 AFCON

Tunisia edge wasteful Zambia

late strike by Yassine Chikhaoui helped Tunisia stun Zambia with a come-from-behind 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations victory in their Group B clash in Ebebiyin on Thursday. Chipolopolo only had themselves to blame for not having sorted out the game in the first half, where they fluffed countless chances. As good as Emmanuel Mayuka was, he was the guilty party as he seemed shocked at

the amount of quality ball he was receiving from his captain Rainford Kalaba. After Zambia weathered Tunisia’s early storm, where they were also lucky not to concede an early penalty when Stoppila Sunzu handled the ball in the box, they gradually found their stride. The pressure was exerted throughout the first half, but Mayuka’s profligacy came to the fore, twice tapping tamely at Mathlouthi.

Zambia finally got on the board in the 60th minute when Mayuka scored, making sure Kalaba’s work was not wasted.

Result and fixtures January 22 Zambia 1 - 2 Tunisia January 23 Ghana vs Algeria

Tunisia’s Ali Maaloul against Zambia’s Emmanuel Mayuka

5pm

South Africa vs Senegal 8pm

coach bullish after draw Ghana, South Africa seek redemption E’Guinea lAs Le Roy hails Congo’s fighting spirit

hana and South Africa will on Friday be seeking redemption at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations as they battle Group C pace setters, Algeria and Senegal respectively. Algeria defeated South Africa 3-1 in their first match of the group while a last minute goal by Senegal condemned Ghana to a first day loss at the tournament. A loss for Ghana against Algeria will surely put an end to their continued participation at the competition, and the same fate will surely befell South Africa if they fail to

defeat Senegal in the second game of the day. Bafana Bafana were left reeling on Monday as they allowed Algeria to come from behind to secure a 3-1 victory in their opener to leave Shakes Mashaba’s men bottom of the table. Senegal on their part came from a goal down to defeat Ghana 2-1 thanks to Moussa Sow’s late goal. Ghana winger Christian Atsu insists the Black Stars are not intimidated by Algeria’s fine form at the AFCON. “Algeria are a very good team. We know that they have very good individuals who are

playing in great clubs, but it doesn’t mean anything,” the on-loan Everton player told lebuteur.com. However, Yacine Brahimi says Algeria are anxious to beat Ghana in Friday’s encounter to avoid a must-win situation against Senegal in their final game. For Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye, he is confident his team will defeat South Africa on Friday. “We saw a very good South African team, but it is up to us to focus on ourselves; what we have to do and where we want to go, and not on the other sides,” said Gueye.

quatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker is wholly satisfied with his team’s 0-0 draw against Burkina Faso during their Group A fixture at the Bata Stadium on Wednesday. The result means that the host nation is still in the contest at this year’s tournament ahead of the final group fixture against Gabon later this month. “We are very happy with this result. It gives us two points and we are upbeat that we can negotiate the final group match against Gabon to our favour and qualify for the quarterfinals,” Becker told journalists in Equatorial Guinea. In the second game played on

Wednesday, Congo Brazzaville coach, Claude Le Roy, praised his players for the good display against Gabon. “Tactically, we had a very good game. All our players are having a first AFCON experience. They are very good and there is still a lot of room for improvement,” said a happy Le Roy. While Congo Brazzaville lead the Group with four points, Gabon are second with three points after their opening 2-0 win over Burkina Faso. Hosts Equatorial Guinea are third with two points, while the 2013 finalists Burkina Faso are bottom with only one point.

SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Austin Okocha

Ex-Super Eagles captain Best food: Sushi Cuisine Best Drink: Champagne Best Colour: White Best Club supported: Barcelona Best Car: Bentley Best Designer: Dsquared2 Best City Visited: Seychelles Best Perfume: Loewe Best Music: Nigerian musicians Best Actor: Denzel Washington Best Actor: Demi Moore Best Competition: 1996 Atlanta Olympics Home Town: Ogwashi-Uku State: Delta Best Match: Against Algeria in 1993during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers Worst Match: None

CelticinterestexcitesOshaniwa Emmanuel Tobi

uper Eagles left-back Juwon Oshaniwa has expressed excitement about the prospects of joining Scotland’s Celtic FC during the current transfer window. The former Sharks of Port Harcourt player, in an interview with the BBC, stated that the Scottish champions, who already have another Nigerian, Efe Ambrose, have contacted his Israeli club Ashdod to check on his availability. “A move to play for Celtic would be a dream come true for me,” Oshaniwa told BBC Scotland. “My club has told me that Celtic have contacted them about me and said

Oshaniwa in action against France

they were interested in me.” Oshaniwa who has eighteen months remaining on his existing contract at Ashdod added: “I would be so glad to meet up with my international teammate Efe Ambrose. “I would love to play at

Celtic. I have heard great things about the club and know how big they are.” The 24-year-old defender appeared in all of the Super Eagles’ World Cup games last summer in Brazil and has a total of 11 caps to his name.

Akwa Ibom Stadium nominated for global award Ifeanyi Ibeh

igeria’s most modern stadium, the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo has been nominated for the 2014 Stadium of the Year award. According to a press statement from StadiumDB.com, which keeps a database of stadiums worldwide, the newly built stadium, also known as the ‘Nest of Champions’, is

among venues nominated for the award. Thirty-two major stadiums commissioned in 2014 have been shortlisted for the award, and a breakdown shows that eight are located in Brazil, three in the United States of America, while Hungary and Poland each have two stadiums nominated. “It’s great to see a new stadium in Nigeria to be proud of. Its white outer cladding

and illumination also makes it stand out globally and become a true landmark for Uyo,” stated Grzegorz Kaliciak, founder of StadiumDB.com, in a statement made available to New Telegraph. Officially opened on November 7, 2014 by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Akwa Ibom International Stadium hosted the Super Eagles’ 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa.

Superkids,KingsSeedsportdayholdsFeb11

he annual inter house sport of the Superkids School, situated on Oyewole Road, Iyana Ipaja, a suburb of Lagos, will come up on Wednesday, February 11, 2015. The inter house sport event of Superkids affiliate, King’s Seed High School, will also hold on the same day. Both events, which will see students from both institutions compete against their peers in various sporting events, most notably in athletics, will take place at the National Youth Service Corps Camp, in Iyana Ipaja. Head of School, Mrs Titilayo Olufemi, said all arrangements for the sports fiesta have been con-

cluded. “We have been preparing for long and we expect the kids to enjoy themselves more as the event gets near,” Olufemi said. Four teams in the primary school, and an equal number of teams in the secondary school, will jostle for honours at the one-day event which the sport coordinator of both institutions, Honourable Adeoye Isaac Abiodun, believes will be etched for a long time to come in the memories of everyone who gets to be in attendance at the NYSC Camp venue. Teams which will battle amongst themselves for supremacy on the day are Cedar, Olive, Palm and Vine Houses.

Charles Ogundiya

Cole and Monday Aigbe. 1997 African Player of the Year, Victor Ikpeba; 1985 Golden Eaglets captain, Nduka Ugbade; Peter Nieketen, Tosan Blackson, Wahab Haruna, Muobosa Bordericks, Sam Okpodu, Humphery Jebba, Edema Fuludu, Lucky Sunday, Cole Joseph, Austin Popo and Tijani Babangida have also confirmed their participation at the event, according to the chairman of the event’s local organising committee, Tony Okowa. Other members of the committee are Onotoja Friday, Victor Onogagamue, Davidson Owumi and Moses Etu. Etu, who is in charge of publicity, called on residents to come to the Warri Township Stadium to witness the high-profile friendly game.

Okocha, others storm Warri for Okowa

ormer Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha, and a number of ex-internationals will on Sunday, February 1, storm Warri for a novelty match aimed at drawing up support for the Peoples Democratic Party’s gubernatorial candidate in Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. Other ex-internationals that have confirmed their participation for the event billed for the Warri Township Stadium are Garba Lawal, Emmanuel Amunike, Kingsley Obiekwu, Emeka Ezeugo, Alloy Agu, Duke Udi, Kenneth Aigbe, Sam Sodje, Friday Christopher, Peter Rufai, Taribo West, Daniel Amokachi, Mobi Okparaku, Ifeanyi Udeze, Uche Okechukwu, Stephen

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Season of distractions and other stories Vantage

Point

EMEKA MADUNAGU emeka.madunagu@newtelegraphonline.com 08059757248 (sms only)

t’s the political season once again in Nigeria and we are being regaled with distractions from all sides. Serious and important national challenges have been swept aside while inanities and distractions now occupy prime space in national discourse. Perhaps, you forgot that the courts and public hospitals have been shut for some months, owing to a strike by workers. Perhaps, news reports about the exploits of Boko Haram seem to be an irritating interruption because everyone is focused on the latest distraction from the political arena. Yes, if it’s not about certificates, it’s about who has sons or daughters. Yes, if it’s not about who attended which school or sat in which examination, it’s about which of the two presidential candidates is pulling the bigger crowd. It doesn’t matter whether majority of the people in the crowds have not had a decent meal in three days. No, the show must go on. Afterall, politicians are promising to make life more abundant (that term ehn!). So, they should as well wait out their hunger till the season of distractions ends and hopefully, they will get more than just a morsel to quench their hunger pangs. It’s the season of distractions when Nigerians can’t distinguish between fact and fiction. All manner of claims about ‘achievements’ are being thrown about on traditional and social media. Infact, we are being reminded that some of our past presidents died in office and, wait for this, it had something to do with their being from a certain part of the country. Adolf Hitler’s propaganda errand boy, Joseph Goebbels, was infamously quoted as saying about the concept of “The Big Lie’: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Yes, since ‘the big lie’ about some former leaders dying in office because they were Northerners was propounded by an agent of state as a way to stifle the opposition, it can be reasonably suspected that it is a deliberate state policy to keep dishing out lies as a political strategy. Otherwise, why would anyone conveniently overlook the fact that a former Nigerian head of state from another part of the country died in office? And to think that one of the people named in that odious advert was the

boss of the current President smacks of a deliberate attempt to muddle up historical facts and mock the memory of a past leader. I wasn’t surprised when some days after that offensive advert that President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy was stoned by some youths as he made his way towards the homestead of the family of his former boss, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The same thing happened in Bauchi yesterday. While not endorsing the attacks on the presidential convoy, I expect Mr. President to denounce the sponsor of that advert so that people don’t begin to think that it was an indirect way of mocking his former boss. Politicians should also be mindful of their utterances and actions because they have the tendency to generate unintended consequences. Elections should not be a do-or-die affair. All of us Nigerians have a duty to make sure that our nation does not fail. It will be a big shame if we allow personal ambitions and unbridled quest for power to push us into destroying our nation. I use the word ‘us’ deliberately because I see myself as a stakeholder in the political process. Another distraction has to do with who has the right to regulate the use of stadiums. Simply because one side controls the government of a particular state does not give it the absolute right to deny access to a public facility

Jonathan

to its opponents. It is even more alarming when you read reports that plans are being made to disrupt presidential rallies of opposing parties. I even read somewhere that Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, is planning to organise a rally on the same day fixed for the presidential rally of the All Progressives Congress in Ado-Ekiti. It’s the same way that the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State has alleged that Governor Rotimi Amaechi has declared that it can’t hold its presidential rally at Adokie Amaesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt. PDP has also alleged that Amaechi is planning to disrupt the rally. I see all of this as unnecessary grandstanding and a distraction from the real issues. All over the country, posters and billboards of candidates are being destroyed while violence is being actively employed as a tool of electioneering. In some places, deaths have been recorded as thugs strive to outdo one another to impress their principals. Then, the long-drawn controversy over Buhari’s certificate is one of the most annoying distractions I have ever seen. Knowing fully well that Buhari was qualified to run in the presidential race, we still tolerated an unnecessary distraction of a debate over his non-submission of his secondary school certificate. Some of the people who championed the mantra that Buhari should be disqualified really disappointed me, like I believe they did millions of Nigerians. A simple check at the institutions cited by Buhari would have saved us the annoying distraction of a certificate debate. It’s so shameful that we have elevated petty gossip to national discourse, such that people don’t bother to engage in research before coming out with a position on any national issue. I would like to urge all Nigerians to closely scrutinise the manifestoes of all the candidates, from presidential to house of assembly, and find out which one really has the interest of the people at heart. Which of the candidates has a clear understanding of current national challenges and possesses an agenda to address them? Which of the candidates can deliver real ‘democracy dividends’

Buhari

(that funny term) to the people? We need to be more discerning in our choices so that we can turn things around in our country over the next four years. No to postponement of elections Speculations about alleged plans to postpone the February elections gained ground yesterday with the call by National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), that such had become necessary in view of the tardiness in the handling of Permanent Voter Cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission and insecurity in some parts of the country. This view, which was contained in Dasuki’s remarks at Chatham House, London has already elicited mixed reactions. It has added verve to allegations the there is an underground plot to postpone the elections. However, I believe it is in the interest of the nation for the elections to proceed as scheduled. INEC had all of four years to prepare for the 2015 elections. So, it must do all it can to correct the anomalies in the PVC distribution. There is no use postponing the elections. We must build trust and confidence in our electoral system or else we will be talking of the same challenges by 2019. Officer Mbu comes to Lagos I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the AIG incharge of Zone 7 Abuja, Mbu Joseph Mbu, had been transferred to Zone 2, to oversee Lagos and Ogun states. Various reactions have trailed his transfer but one thing I want to believe is that Mbu will do everything to dispel the notion that it had political intentions. It is not a good idea for a senior officer to be described as the errand boy of the powers-that-be. There is always a day of reflection after all the power show is gone. Mbu’s ill-advised order for the arrest of a journalist with Africa Independent Television, Abuja, Amaechi Anakwe, should not repeat itself in Lagos. I believe he ought to have learnt his lessons from the negative reactions generated by that unnecessary action. It will be in his own interest to continue to maintain a good relationship with the media, so that even after he leaves the Nigeria Police, he can walk into any media house and be warmly received. He needs to ask former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, about his relationship with journalists, in service and in retirement. He also needs to cultivate the image of a gentleman AIG, whose primary duty is to protect the citizens of the country. This includes those opposed to the government. His handling of the Bring Back Our Girls protests in Abuja and his brushes with Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, left a sour taste in the mouths of many Nigerians and he needs to avoid a repeat of such. Uncleared pensions I wish to appeal to our leaders at various levels to stop the ill-treatment of pensioners. It does not speak well of a nation when its retired workers cannot easily get their pensions. It is a shame that after people had put in their productive years in the service of government that they cannot get their pensions. There is no state that cannot afford to pay pensioners. All that is required is thoughtful channeling of resources so that every segment of the society feels the impact of good governance. Even federal retirees have bitter complaints about unpaid pensions. This is a bad way to treat retired persons. I believe this should form part of the serious questions that Nigerians should ask their leaders and candidates.

On Marble

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Emeka Madunagu

Sanctity of Truth

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Developing the solid minerals sector GUEST COLUMNIST Okwudili Uzoka

ith the obvious crash of crude oil and the progressive rise in the value of various solid mineral commodities in the international market, I am quite disheartened and outraged by the seemingly never-ending policy summersaults within the line Ministry, which have conspired to deny this country the immense derivable benefits from the sector, Nigeria’s superabundant, yet largely untapped potentials, for decades. Thus far and strangely too, not one of the various Ministers from 1995 to date seemed bothered at all that solid minerals had been relegated to contributing a paltry 0.3-0.5% GDP since the early 1970s; whereas long before the discovery of commercial deposits of crude oil in Nigeria, the nation had been a net exporter of solid minerals such as tin, columbite, gold, coal, as well as lead and zinc. Considering the over-bearing influence of crude oil as the source of over 95% of our annual forex receipts, and the hurting uncertainty of global oil markets which are presently tumbling Nigeria’s fatal attraction to petro-dollars, is all the more worrisome. For now, there is no overstating the fact that minerals constitute vital raw material inputs in most modern industries including petroleum, metallurgical, agro-allied, phar maceutical, chemical, paint, paper, electrical and electronics as well as building and construction. With the persistent disquiet in the Niger Delta, the home of our only source of foreign exchange, and the nationwide occurrence of viable solid minerals resources cutting across each of the 774 LGAs, add to the employment generation potential of this sector, it just beats the imagination how Nigerians have yet to reap the abundant benefits of our stupendous solid minerals wealth. The only reasonable explanation apart from the proverbial “Resource Curse” is the rather inexplicable “Nigerian Factor”, a euphemism for inept or irresponsible management. The Ministry should equally give full effect to the well thought-out and far- reaching provisions of the extant mining code on the provision of relevant equipment and expertise to artisanal and small scale miners which aim is to ensure their operations are conducted in a safe, efficient, profitable and environmentally-sound manner. This will doubtless catalyze the proliferation of SMEs in the area of mineral extraction as well as downstream activities of mineral beneficiation and in the long term, mineral-based small and medium scale industries, with the potential to create millions of

Sada

Okonjo-Iweala

Solid minerals

jobs country wide. The hydra-headed monster of illegal mining and minerals smuggling which has cost the nation several billions more, and which is a direct result of the withdrawal of the expatriates is also a testimony to the inability of the public mining institutions to fill the vacuum. Illegal mining has also resulted in the continued devastation of the environment in mine fields across the country, in some cases wreaking havoc far worse than the colonial mining escapades. Notwithstanding the replacement of the 1971 policy with a new one, in 1998, which emphasized the leadership role of the private sector, the sector still did not attract the much needed private investment owing, in part, to the absence of a mining legislation that is

consistent with international best practices, chaotic administration of the sector and inconsistent policy structure by the line Ministry over the years. Admittedly, the sector has recently recorded a paradigm shift in the area of institutional framework and structure, following the enactment by the last National Assembly in 2007, of a world-class mining code and the formulation of a complementary policy by the line Ministry, in close consultation with the legislative branch. Two critical institutions were established as off shoots of the sectoral reforms: (i) The Mining Cadastre Office, MCO, an independent body responsible for the administration of all mineral titles in a transparent manner, consistent with international best practices. (ii) The

extra – Ministerial Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, which sub serves as the sole repertoire of all geo-scientific information of the country, providing easily retrievable relevant data for prospective investors and researchers, alike. All considered, the greatest drawback to this critical sector is the perennial policy summersault. World Bank Data have indicated that the Minimum Reach Out Level for Nigeria’s gold is 500 metres compared to 5000 metres in the dwindling gold fields of South Africa. South Africa’s Minerals legislation is also considered as one of the most draconian by the International Mining Community, yet South Africa remains the preferred destination to Nigeria for international mining investments due to the stability of their legal framework and political environment. There is also the need to put in place a basket of incentives to, in the short term, promote private sector confidence and investments in detailed mineral exploration to delineate viable deposits, as well as mechanized mineral extraction and downstream operations of mineral beneficiation and in the medium term, proliferation of end industries which utilize processed solid minerals as raw material inputs. For the records, the Minerals surveys of 1903 and 1904 had revealed the vast minerals potentials of the land mass constituting the then Southern and Northern protectorates of the present day Nigeria. Consequent upon the favourable results of these surveys, a flourishing Solid minerals Sector evolved, the main commodities being coal, tin, Columbite, gold, lead and zinc. Nigeria was then placed on the world map as the largest producer of Columbite world wide and among the leading producers of tin, making it an influential member of the Association of Tin Producing Countries (ATPC). In those glorious days, “hydrocarbons”, representing oil and gas, was just a “desk” in the then Ministry of mines, power and Lagos Affairs, With further oil explorations and the subsequent discovery of oil wells at Oloibiri in the late 1950s by Shell D -Arcy, the Solid Minerals Sector began its gradual descent into oblivion. For the avoidance of doubt, the neglect of the Solid Minerals |Sector is by all means, not as a result of dwindling reserves or its inferior value to crude oil. As a matter of fact, studies by multilateral agencies, the World Bank inclusive, have shown incontrovertible evidence that Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector is in a position to rake in four fold the revenue currently accruing to the country. There are nation wide varieties of very valuable solid minerals commodities which are up to ten fold, the value of crude oil, weight – for- weight. •Uzoka (okwudiliuzoka@gmail.com) was former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals.

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