Monday, february 16, 2015 binder1 by Newtelegraphonline

A media partner of Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS /newtelegraph

Vol. 2 No. 362

Monday, February 16, 2015

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

12 pages of international new york times

Reps to fix $40 as oil benchmark lReport unveils N305bn 'wasteful' expenditure in budget Onwuka Nzeshi and Philip Nyam Abuja

he House of Representatives may review downward the oil benchmark in the 2015 Appropriation Bill from

$65 to $40 per barrel to reflect the current reality in the global oil market. The House reconvenes tomorrow after a month's

recess to participate in the general elections, which have been postponed from February to March. It was also learnt that

the House may also review the exchange rate of N165 to a dollar as contained in the Appropriation Bill. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

N150

}23

40 days to go... Nigeria Nigeria votes votes

2015

15 20}14 & 15

You're not God lPDP hits hard at former President Obasanjo }2

Quick Read Editorial

The multinational force to fight insurgency }19 Nine killed, 40 injured in Yobe bomb attack }8

L-R: Vice-President Namadi Sambo and President Goodluck Jonathan with children of military personnel killed in the North-East at a presidential dinner to mark the Valentine in Abuja...at the weekend. PHOTO TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Confusion over ballot papers Onwuka Nzeshi and Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

ontroversy arose yesterday over where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is printing ballot papers

meant for the forthcoming general elections. There were also contradictions on the date when the ballot papers were delivered to INEC by

the printers based in the United Kingdom. Earlier, INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and the Director, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Travel Advisory

Your guide to local and international flights }4

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

You're not God, PDP tells Obasanjo Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday took issue with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his allegation that President Goodluck Jonathan was desperate to cling to power. It asked him to stop playing God in his attempt to settle scores with the president. The party, which described Obasanjo's statement as reckless, accused him of trying to thwart what it called Jonathan's impending victory in the March presidential election. The party spoke against the backdrop of Saturday's broadsides Obasanjo launched against the president in which he accused him of trying to stay in power by hook or crook. But Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, at a press conference in Abuja, dismissed Obasanjo's allegations. He accused the PDP's former chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of raising issues and making assertions capable of derailing democracy and creating chaos. He said: "The truth is that he (Obasanjo) knows that President Goodluck Jonathan will win next month's presidential election and that is why he wants to destroy the credibility of the whole process right from the outset. What he is trying to say in his latest contribution is that if President Jonathan wins, then the election must have been rigged right from the outset. This is not only wrong, but it is also unfair and uncharitable. If President Obasanjo has any evidence to prove his weighty allegations, he ought to present it before the Council of State and take it up there. "He has been unfair to Jonathan, to Nigeria and even to himself. Most importantly the days of intimidating others with his harsh words and overbearing influence are long over. Obasanjo is not God. Only God is God and He alone determines the fortunes of men and the destiny of nations." He challenged Obasanjo to tell the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) what Jonathan is doing in order for him to stay in power by all means and to give the commission all the details. He wondered why Obasanjo was making an issue out of the postpone-

ment of the elections, as this was not the first time that INEC did so. He said: "In 2011 during the National Assembly elections, INEC not only cancelled the elections just after they started, but they also postponed them by two weeks. The heavens did not fall then and neither did President Obasanjo accuse INEC or the president of having any grand plan to stay in power by hook or by crook at that time. One won-

ders what has suddenly changed? "What INEC has done by postponing the elections is firmly within the confines of the law and they have probably saved thousands of lives by doing so. They have also given the 34 per cent of Nigerians that had not collected their PVCs as at the relevant time the opportunity to do so. Without this postponement all those people would have been disenfranchised and it would have placed a

dark cloud over the whole process. Why should President Obasanjo have a problem with that?" Fani-Kayode added that Jonathan has re-affirmed his commitment to the democratic process and has also said the handover date of May 29 was sacrosanct and wondered why the former president has refused to believe him. On Obasanjo's claim that Jonathan was trying to emulate former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo

by trying to prolong his stay in power, Fani-Kayode said Jonathan's government played a key role in ensuring that democracy was fully established in the Ivory Coast and in ensuring that the Gbagbo plan ''stay in power forever plan'' did not work. "If anyone doubts this they should ask President Alhassan Qattara of La Cote D'Ivoire the role that Jonathan and Nigeria played in helping to restore democracy and stability

back to his country. "They should also find out the role that President Obasanjo played in attempting to keep President Laurent Gbagbo in power at all costs and the deep friendship that exists between the two men. It is a matter of fact and public record that when he was President of Nigeria, President Obasanjo, perhaps more than any other African head of state with the exception of President CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

L-R: All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; Safina, daughter of the party's presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and another daughter of Buhari, Halima, at a dinner in honour of Buhari and his running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in Lagos...at the weekend.

PDP seeks trial of equipment before polls lWants PVCs, card readers used in by-elections Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to adequately test its equipment in a mock election session, within two weeks to demonstrate and ensure their practicability and reliability in the field. The party also challenged the commission to prove to Nigerians that the cards it intends to use during the elections, were working before it goes ahead with the use of Permanent Voters' Cards (PVCs) for the elections. The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, and its National Auditor, Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, in different statements yesterday, took the electoral umpire to task on its preparations for the elections. Metuh told the commission to understand that “observations by stake-

holders are not intended to castigate, weaken or destroy the electoral process but to assist in deepening democracy so that at the end of the day, Nigerians will be the ultimate winners.” According to him, INEC should gird its loins and appreciate the fact that it is “saddled with an enormous responsibility and that Nigerians expect nothing less than a transparent electoral process.” He urged the commission to use the period provided by the shift in the dates of elections to perfect all arrangements including its processes and equipment for credible election. While commending INEC for sacking its two officials involved in denying non-indigenes of their voters’ cards in Lagos, the PDP said such practices are still going on in various parts of Lagos and other select states and urged the commission to ensure that the trend is completely checked and that all registered voters are given their

PVCs to participate in the elections. On his part, Adeyanju said the commission should allow eligible voters to use their Temporary Voters' Cards (TVCs) during the elections to avoid disenfranchising millions of Nigerians. He suggested that PVCs should be used in the subsequent by-elections arising from the general elections to test run the card readers. According to him, "this is to ensure peaceful and mass participation of the eligible voters. We want innovation but the full usage of the PVCs and the card readers for now cannot work, they have to test run them. Right now, INEC has not been able to show or demonstrate to Nigerians how the card readers will work. "The card reader as I was told will attend to a voter for almost five minutes. To attend to about 500 voters, it will take up to eight hours. How can this work as expected with the

level of illiteracy in Nigeria? To me, I think it will be better for the INEC to test run it first and adopt its usage in the future elections but not now," he said. He stated that it was divine intervention that prompted INEC to reschedule the elections as it would have brought serious calamity to the country since it has been proved to Nigerians that INEC was not fully prepared for the polls as it claimed. The PDP also called on all political parties and other relevant stakeholders in the electoral process to join hands with INEC to guarantee the success of the general elections, advising that parties should bury their narrow group interests, come together in the interest of the nation and create the environment for credible, free and fair elections are firmly put in place. “The responsibility of building a united, strong and prosperous nation anchored on democratic

principles lies on all of us collectively. We therefore charge all political parties, other relevant groups and all stakeholders in the electoral process to jettison all personal/group interests and put that of our nation and its people ahead of all. “At this point, what should be paramount is the wellbeing of our people and the survival of our dear nation and its democracy. We must therefore close ranks as brothers and sisters and resist the machinations of enemies of our country who do not wish us well. “In this regard, we must redirect our political discourse and energies to productive issues that promote national development, reinforce our unity and engender mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence of our people. It is only through this that we can create the enabling environment for peaceful general elections and guarantee the overall stability of our country," the party said.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Travel Advisory

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 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 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

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

Lagos-Cairo Cairo-Lagos

MS 876 MS 875

14:25hrs 08:30hrs

22:20hrs 13:30hrs

EGYPT AIR

KENYA AIRWAYS

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

3:00hrs 14:00hrs

8:00hrs 19:00hrs

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

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

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

Lagos-Doha Flight Doha-Lagos Flight

QR 1414 (daily) QR 1415

14:55hrs 07:20hrs

23:45hrs 13:35hrs

Lagos-Atlanta Atlanta-Lagos

DL053 DL 054

22:15hrs 5:15hrs

05:32hrs 16:15hrs

Lagos-Houston Houston-Lagos

UA 143 UA 142

10:10hrs 19:10hrs

6:05hrs 15.15hrs

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

air maroc

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

12:30hrs

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

IBERIA

Abu Dhabi-Lagos

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

19:35hrs 23:45hrs

MEA 571 MEA 572

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

Lagos- Abu Dhabi

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

12:30hrs 18:00hrs

to Lagos)

UNITED AIRLINES

17:00hrs 4:40hrs

KQ 533 KQ 534

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

DELTA AIRLINES

11:00hrs 22:40hrs

Lagos-Nairobi Nairobi-Lagos

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

QATAR AIRWAYS

VS 652 VS 651

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

BA075 BA074 BA 082 BA 083

EMIRATES AIRLINES

Lagos-London London-Lagos

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

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

Lebanon-Lagos Lagos-Lebanon

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

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 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Marginal oil field operators’ debts hit $10bn lLocal producers mull merger to survive Adeola Yusuf

he debt profile of marginal oil field operators in Nigeria has skyrocketed above $10 billion, owing to the slump in prices of crude oil at the international market. The marginal fields’ operators produce about 230,000 barrels daily, representing about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s daily production. Checks by New Telegraph showed that most of project developments by the indigenous oil producers were financed with bank loans based on $70 per barrel of oil and this has affected their ability to service their debts. The price of crude at the international market has fallen by over 60 per cent since June last year, creating problems for oil producers and by extension Nigeria, which relies

on crude for over 80 per cent of its revenue. Although the commodity, at the weekend, traded at $60 per barrel for the first time in 2015, the indigenous producers are still experiencing rising debt profile. “The debt profile varies from one company to the other, but generally, the cumulative debt of these companies that we are talking about now should be in the range of $10 billion or more,” an industry source said. Oil prices of less than $50 per barrel makes production unprofitable for smaller companies that pump at a cost of $30 per barrel. Taxes and extra security costs to protect installations cut into profits, according to analysts, including Pabina Yinkere of Vetiva Capital Management Ltd. Oil majors, such as Shell and Exxon Mobil,

with larger economies of scale, pump at lower costs of about $15 for a barrel, Yinkere said. Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Natural Resources Limited, Mr. Kola Karim, who confirmed that the marginal field operators are facing a tough time, said the companies’ survival might depend on mergers. “We don’t have that much leverage; the rapid drop is unprecedented for the country’s small producers. You face the devil on all sides. “Most of the smaller companies obtained financing based on a price of $70 a barrel, compounding difficulties from the fall in the price of crude while they struggle to keep production steady in the face of pipeline attacks and oil theft. “Already at $50 a barrel, we’re under water. The reality is there has to be mergers in the industry

because it’s difficult in a down market when you’re a small producer trying to weather the storm alone,” Karim told Bloomberg, adding that the financial pressure is compounded by the security threat Karim’s Shoreline Natural Resources, with output of about 60,000 barrels per day, is one of more than a dozen small producers owned by Nigerians, pumping between 5,000 and 100,000 barrels daily and accounting for about 20 per cent of Nigeria’s production. Others include Seplat Petroleum Development Co., Neconde Energy Ltd., Conoil Producing Ltd. and First Hydrocarbon Ltd. Nigeria produced an average of 2.04 million barrels per day in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation, Total SA and Eni SpA

run Joint Ventures (JVs) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that pump the rest of the country’s crude. Armed groups led by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) are fighting for control of the region’s oil resources. Attacks cut Nigeria’s oil output by 28 per cent, mainly from the delta’s swamps and shallow waters, from 2006 to 2009, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg. Though the violence subsided after thousands of fighters accepted a government amnesty offer in 2009 to disarm, a surge in oil theft in recent years by gangs tapping crude from pipelines has left output hovering close to four-year lows. As Shell, Chevron, Total and Eni sold some of their onshore assets in Nigeria over the last two

L-R: Director, Enterprise Business, Airtel Nigeria, Tawa Bolarin; Managing Director, Resourcery Plc, Tani Fafunwa and President, Netfocus Technologies Limited, Oladipo Raji, at the Airtel Corporate Customer Forum in Lagos...recently.

Report unveils N305bn 'wasteful' expenditure in budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Albert Sam-Tsokwa (PDP, Taraba) told New Telegraph at the weekend that there was a need to review the proposed $65 oil benchmark as it is not in tune with the current trend in the global market. According to him, the $65 benchmark "is out of tune with the current market forces" Although, he did not mention a particular

figure the House is contemplating, but another lawmaker, who craved for anonymity, said the benchmark might be cut to between $40 and $45. The lawmaker faulted the parameters upon which the N4.357 trillion 2015 budget estimates were hinged by the executive, describing the projections as unrealistic. He said: "Parameters such as the $65 oil benchmark, projected oil production of 2.2782 million barrel per day and an average exchange rate of N165 to a

US dollar proposed in the budget cannot just stand in view of the situation in the global oil market." He added that most lawmakers are not comfortable with the fact that the price of crude that had crashed to about $46 per barrel while the exchange rate is now about N198 to a dollar. The proposed budget had passed for second reading in the House on January 14, 2015 without hassles. Before it was passed, Chairman, House Com-

mittee on Appropriation, Hon. John Enoh (PDP, Cross River), said the price of oil was going down and the benchmark higher than the current price of oil, thus necessitating changes in the projections in the budget estimates. He stated that the required review was in the face of the problems of unpaid salaries which pose a challenge of increasing expenditure. Meanwhile, the House is expected to receive the report of its ad hoc committee on the Petroleum

Industry Bill (PIB). The committee headed by the Chief Whip, Hon. Ishaku Bawa, has not been able to turn in its findings since completing its public hearings in 2013. But House Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, has said the bill will be passed before the expiration of the tenure of the current House. However, despite the falling price of crude oil, the dwindling revenue accruing to the Federation CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

years, they were acquired by smaller Nigerianowned companies that funded their acquisitions with debt, banking on high crude prices to repay the loans, Yinkere said. Falling oil prices have also had an impact on the country’s banking sector, where about 25 per cent of loans are made to oil companies. At First Bank Plc loans of these firms account for about 40 per cent of its loans and at Access Bank Plc, the figure is 35 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The two banks are the most reliant on lending to the oil industry, the data show. The lenders are also hurting from the 27 per cent plunge of the naira this year under pressure from declining crude prices. Some of the banks have started negotiations on how to reorganize the debts, Dolapo Oni, energy analyst at Lagos-based Ecobank Research, said in a telephone interview. “The banks are already starting to see that their revenues are now so low that they can no longer meet their payments,” he said. Seplat, the leading Nigerian producer, pumping about 70,000 barrels daily, is in talks to take over London-based Afren Plc, which operates fields in Nigeria. “I foresee a huge combination of mergers in the local market, we’re also looking for opportunities,” said Karim. “You’re better being part of a bigger player, so you can save on your cost and make good margins.” Companies including Shoreline are now looking to boost gas output after the government raised prices to $2.50 per thousand cubic metres, with demand to Nigerian power plants set to more than double to five billion cubic feet a day from the current two billion cubic feet, according to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation of Nigeria (NNPC) estimates. Nigeria holds Africa’s largest gas reserves of more than 180 trillion cubic feet. Shoreline is in talks with companies, including the Nigerian Gas Co. and Ughelli Power Plc, ahead of plans to increase production from its 3.5 trillion cubic feet reserves, Karim said. His company’s focus would be on the domestic gas market as the higher prices make it more attractive, he said.

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Why criminal suit against Buhari stalled – Investigation Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

evelations emerged over the weekend as to why the criminal suit filed against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari before an Abuja Magistrate's Court has not been assigned to any magistrate for hearing. Buhari has been dragged before the Magistrate's Court on January 27 by a group headed by one Shield Jones Ufot over allegation of giving false evidence. The complainants, Ufot, Jimmy David, Ogueri Enwerem and Tochukwu Okorie had, on behalf of their counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel brought a direct criminal complaint pursuant to Section 143(5) and 152 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The complainants cited Buhari as the only defendant in the suit. The case has been filed, but it has not been assigned for hearing. A probe into the nonassignment of the case by New Telegraph revealed that the case cannot be assigned as it was not prop-

erly filed before the court. A source, who prefers anonymity, stated that the parties in the suit are unknown to Nigerian law, as no individual has the power to institute a criminal proceeding at the magistrate's court. "A criminal proceedings before the Magistrate's Court is to be initiated by the police and not an individual as in the instant case. "You don't expect the court to be teaching the lawyers or the parties what to do. It is a known law that criminal proceeding is always between the state and a party.

"The parties in this suit are expected to be complainants and not the party that will file suit. Their responsibility is to report the matter to the police and the police in turn investigate and if the accused is found guilty, a First Information Report (FIR) will be filed against the accused, which will plead guilty or not guilty to. "But in this instant case, there is nothing before the court, as what the complainants filed can be substituted for FIR," the source stated. In the suit, complainants alleged that Buhari gave a false evidence to a

public officer contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 158 of the Penal Code Law. The complainants averred that they are Nigerian citizens, activists and social crusaders committed to ensuring obedience to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a duty to report crime and ensure prosecution of offenders. They further averred that they are taxpayers and voters in Nigeria qualified to vote and be voted for in Nigeria. In their particular of offence, the complainants

submitted that Buhari, on December 18, 2014, filled and submitted INEC form C.F 001 to the Independent National Electoral Commission (a public office) wherein the said General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) gave his qualification to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as West African School Certificate (WASC), which he claimed to have obtained in 1961. They further submitted that Buhari with intent to mislead a public officer as to compliance with the provisions of Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2010, de-

posed to various affidavits in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja wherein he stated that he attended Katsina Provincial Secondary School, Katsina State and obtained WASC and the certificates he claimed to have obtained are with the Nigerian Army. They also submitted that Buhari never sat for the West African Examination Council Examination in 1961 as he claimed and that in the entire records of the school and West African Examination Council, there appeared no name of the said Mohammadu Buhari.

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

34o C 27oC Partially Cloudy

ABUJA

39oC

24oC

Mostly Sunny

PORT HARCOURT

28o C 18oC Thunder Storms

KANO

39oC

16oC

Mostly Sunny

ENUGU

38oC

25oC

Partially Cloudy

IBADAN

36oC

24oC

Partially Cloudy

CALABAR

33o C 24oC Thunder Storms

MAIDUGURI

ONITSHA

40oC 16oC Sunny

39oC

25oC

Partially Cloudy

All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship running mate in Lagos State, Dr. Oluranti Adebule (left) and the governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right) with others at the celebration of Valentine with some members of their campaign team in Lagos…at the weekend

Report unveils N305bn 'wasteful' expenditure in budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Account and the austerity measures announced by the Federal Government, a report by Citizens Wealth Platform (CWP), compiled by a team of experts and professionals in public finance management, has identified a series of "inappropriate, unclear and wasteful" expenditure items in the 2015 budget. The items amounted to nearly N1 trillion but experts have pegged what could be rescued immediately at about N305 billion. The group, in the report released at the weekend, demanded that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Assembly should review the budget to eliminate the "waste". A copy of the report exclusively obtained by New Telegraph observed that though the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had told Nigerians to tighten their belts, this year's budget like those of previous years, did not

reflect a consciousness to cut down the cost of governance. Rather, the report said, the 2015 budget was based on a faulty template that left a lot of loopholes for frivolous expenditures and outright corruption across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The CWP therefore urged the presidency and the National Assembly to lead by example by pruning down their budgets. It demanded that the National Assembly, which has had an annual budgetary provision of N150 billion in the past three years, should henceforth reduce it by fifty per cent to N75 billion. The report said: "There seems to be structural challenges with the budget preparation process. The template sent to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for budget preparation seems to be deficient. It does not differentiate between MDAs considering their statuto-

ry duties and peculiarities. Thus, every MDA must ask for a vote for security services, uniforms, printing of security and non security documents, maintenance of IT equipment and all manner of consultancy services. MDAs ask for a vote for welfare after they have made full provisions for the salaries and remuneration of their staff. Pray, what manner of welfare is this that is not covered by the staff remuneration? "There are provisions for medical expenses and supplies after full provisions have been made for contributions to the National Health Insurance Scheme. In a period of austerity, MDAs still dedicate millions of naira to the repair of office furniture. But how much do you need to buy new furniture? MDAs demand money for refreshment and meals as if they are running a restaurant chain while requests are perpetually made for purchase of library books in an anti-

intellectual environment. Nigeria still intends to pay for pilgrimages against the constitutional bar on adopting state religion. We have graduated to a system where every MDA votes money for budget preparation and administration while maintain accounts and finance departments and employing qualified accountants and other professionals. "Contrary to the advice of the Oronsaye Committee, Service Wide Votes continue to be used as a slush fund duplicating expenses that should properly be domiciled in MDAs. "Evidently, the administration has abandoned the planning system of medium term sector strategies to inform the medium term expenditure framework leading to the budget. There seems to be no connection between the expenditure priorities and high level national development plans." In the budget of the presidency, the report disagreed with the Ministry

of Finance on the provision of N367, 814,733.00 as medical related expenses after provision had been made for the presidency in the NHIS in the same budget. The centre said the provision was excessive and recommended that it should be reduced to N73, 562,946.60. The presidency also had a provision of N732, 420,920 for food and catering but the survey said this was excessive and should equally be reduced by 80 per cent. The study also looked at the budgetary provisions for the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation where N97, 924,364 was provided for office stationery and computer consumables. It described the provision as excessive and recommended that the sum be reduced by 50 per cent. Similarly, where the budget made a provision of N9, 981,373 for magazines and periodicals, the report said it should be cut down by 80 per cent.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nine killed, 40 injured in Yobe bomb attack

lPolice repel gunmen attack in Kano Hassan Jirgi, Muhammad Kabir and Flora Onwudiwe

espite assurances from the Federal Government to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, the terrorists yesterday struck in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. The target was the busy

Bayan Tasha Motor Park near a market in the state capital. No fewer than nine persons died in the attack when a bomb exploded at the motor park. Over 40 others sustained varying degrees of injuries. New Telegraph learnt that a female suicide bomber detonated explosives concealed in her body. The incident occurred at 12:45p.m.

An eyewitness, Ba'aji Bukar, who was inside the motor park when the bomb exploded, said he counted nine bodies and over 40 injured persons after the explosion. “Somebody dropped the female suicide bomber in a car and zoomed off. She went into the park and detonated the explosive,” Bukar told New Telegraph. A source at the Specialist Hospital confirmed the

casualties. Security operatives and the National Union of Road Transport workers (NURTW) officials were seen evacuating corpses and injured persons to hospital from the scene. Most of those evacuated were taken to the Damaturu State Specialist Hospital where they are receiving treatment. Yobe State Police Commissioner, Mr. Marcus

Danladi, confirmed the attack, but said eight people died. Also in Kano, Boko Haram insurgents attacked a police station at Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano on Saturday. The attack was repelled by the police when the terrorists attempted to flee the scene. The command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed

Members, Nigerians United for Democracy, Mr. Kunle Awobodu; Mr. Femi Falana and Mr. Titi Ogunye, at a pro-democracy Valentine 'Sit Out' rally in Lagos…at the weekend. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Confusion over ballot papers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, had told the media that the ballot papers were delivered before the rescheduling of the poll dates, but the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said yesterday the commission received the ballot papers on February 12. The controversy raged just as indications emerged yesterday that Cemoz International Limited, one of the firms contracted by INEC to print the ballot papers, may have bungled the contract and exposed the election to possible rigging. Ballot papers meant for the presidential election were allegedly found over the weekend at the premises of a local printing press in the Essex area of London. The sensitive materials, which had supposedly arrived in Nigeria before now, were found unsecured at the premises of Panther Printing Services in London. An online news platform, Sa-

hara Reporters, which reported the discovery, had accused INEC of a shoddy handling of the contract but the commission has since dismissed the fears. Idowu, in an interview with New Telegraph yesterday, confirmed that Cemoz International Limited was one of the firms contracted by the commission to print the ballot papers but added that the firm delivered its consignment of ballot papers to INEC on February 12. According to him, what may have been found on the floor of the printing press in London might be the waste papers generated during the production of the ballot papers. "Some persons have called earlier to ask me whether Cemoz International Limited printed ballot papers for INEC and because they know it is on paper, I confirmed to them that it is on INEC's record and the company had delivered its ballot papers as at February 12. The company had delivered on time but for the postponement of the elec-

tions. So the ballot papers that they said they sighted in a printing press in London cannot be the ones meant for our elections. They were supposed to deliver on February 12; they have delivered. So what some people claim to have sighted might just be the waste," he said. Idowu added that the contract awarded to Cemoz International Limited was to print ballot papers for the gubernatorial and state legislative elections and not for the presidential election. He stated that printing ballot papers for the presidential election was being done partly abroad and partly in Nigeria. "What we gave to the firm in question was for the governorship and state legislative elections. If at all anything was sighted, it could not have been ballot papers for the presidential election. All the consignments of ballot papers have been arriving on schedule and they have been deposited at the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)," he said.

the incident in an interview with New Telegraph in Kano. He said the incident happened on Saturday around 5:30p.m., when gunmen, numbering about six, stormed the police station on two motorcycles but the police repelled the attack. He said one of the gunmen was killed during an exchange of fire while the other was lynched by the community while trying to escape. According to him, two of the gunmen were also arrested and were now assisting the police in their investigation. Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, yesterday said the military had intensified efforts to ensure that in six weeks, the war against the insurgents come to an end. “We are set to decimate the Boko Haram terrorists by first gaining air and ground intelligence to deny them the freedom of action and movement, to destroy their communication and supply line and the possibilities of regeneration. “We have done this sufficiently, their command and control is already disrupted and what we need to do now is an exercise to complete the project.”

PDP blasts former President Obasanjo CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Jacob Zuma of South Africa, propped up and supported President Gbagbo and it is an irony of fate and history that he is now condemning the actions of his old friend and accusing others of trying to emulate them. "Again it is ironic that President Obasanjo has accused President Jonathan of having a grand plan to stay in power at all costs and by all means yet it is the same Obasanjo that tried to stay in power for a third term even though the Nigerian constitution specifically forbade it. He tried all he could to change the constitution but the whole thing failed and he was compelled to leave power," he added. He attributed Obasanjo attack on Jonathan to the president's refusal to be controlled by the former president. "He also asked him to do a number of things that were simply wrong and unacceptable. It is for President Goodluck Jonathan himself to divulge those things and I am sure that he will do so at the appropriate time. Needless to

say President Jonathan refused to be controlled and told what to do even though at all times he showed Obasanjo maximum respect and accorded him all the privileges, access and courtesies that is due to a former head of state and a father and mentor. This continued to be the case even after Obasanjo consistently attempted to undermine his government and ridicule his efforts. "Yet President Obasanjo could not be appeased and was not satisfied. As far as he was concerned, he must either control Jonathan or Jonathan had to go. That is why he decided to secretly support the APC and became their ''navigator in chief''. He was determined to pull the whole house down rather than allow Jonathan to return to power. This is simply because he believes that if he cannot control someone that person must be destroyed. Control and domination is an obsession for Obasanjo. That is the bottom line. He is prepared to put even the devil in power provided he can control him. That is why he is so determined to stop Jonathan and put in

place an interim government which he, or one of his surrogates, will head. That is his plan and he is determined to achieve it no matter what it takes," he said. According to him, Obasanjo does not want genuine democracy as all he wants is put in power somebody he can control. He said Obasanjo's grouse against Jonathan was personal and had nothing to do with Nigeria and urged him to leave Nigeria out of it. "If he has a personal score to settle with Jonathan he should not do so at the expense of the peace and stability of Nigeria. If he wants to stop Jonathan then let him attempt to do so through the democratic process and through the ballot box and not through foul and unconstitutional means. We said it before and we will say it again: gone are the days that any president can be teleguided and controlled because we have all come of age," he stated. He said despite his attacks, PDP would continue to hold Obasanjo in high esteem.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONday, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

News

national

NNPC audit report:

'Four power plants coming in Kogi'

Group tells Sanusi to apologise T to Jonathan, Alison-Madueke

Civil Society group, MoveOn Nigeria, has called for public apology from the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi II and the opposition All Progressives Congress, who had re-echoed Sanusi’s allegation that huge sums of money were missing from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.The group’s demand came following the submission of its audit report on the NNPC by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which indicated that only $1.48b was yet to be remitted to the federation account as against $49b alleged by Sanusi. The group said, as a mark of honour, the onus now falls on the Emir of Kano, who as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised the initial alarm that led to the probe. In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, the group stated that the hoax as raised by Sanusi, was an embarrassment to President Goodluck Jonathan;

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and to the Nigerian state and as such, ought to be followed by an apology, having been found to be untrue. According to the group, the allegation focused more international attention on Nigeria, just like the audit report did, adding that with the world watching, those who initially raised the allegation, and indeed, “all those who reached judgemental conclusions, ought to swallow their pride and tender public apology to the president, the minister and also the senate of the Federal Republic”. It said such an act would be a show of humility, natural patriotism and respect for self and others. “Recall that the incumbent Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi II, a man we all hold in high esteem, as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised the initial allegation that set off the probe by the audit firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. “We also note that the Senate had mandated its committee on Finance chaired by Ahmed Ma-

karfi to investigate the allegation. Despite the senate declaring that no money was missing, the figures kept changing and eventually we were left with something like $49b missing. “That prompted Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to institute a probe by the audit firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which recently submitted the final report to President Jonathan. “In its report, the auditors stated that “ The gross revenue generated from FGN crude oil lifting for the period 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2013, was US$69.34billion and not US$67billion reported by the Reconciliation Committee.The total cash remitted into the Federation Accounts in relation to these crude oil lifting, was US$50.81billion and not US$47billion as earlier reported by the Reconciliation Committee. The balance of the generated revenue is accounted for as follows: a)Revenue reported by NPDC of US$5.11billion reported by theMD, Mr. Briggs during

the Senate hearings will be accounted for through the financial statements of NPDC, and any dividend declared will flow into the Federation account. b) PMS and DPK Subsidy of US$8.7billion c) NNPC’s initial costs verified and accepted by the senate of US$2.65billion d) Additional NNPC costs following the forensic audit US$2.81billion e) Added to the Revenue is the unremitted NPDC signature bonus due for divested assets and taxes/royalties totalling US$2.22billion. e) Hence the net amount attributable to the federation account following the above summary is US$1.48billion” the group said in the statement signed by its national Coordinator, Clem Aguiyi. According to the group, the audit report, which has put to rest issues involved in the allegation, makes it more than necessary for “all those who reached judgemental conclusions, ought to swallow their pride and tender public apology to the president, the minister and also the senate of the Federal Republic.”

he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission said that it has issued four licences for the construction of four power plants of 1, 200MW. The contracts, according to NERC was initially issued to Zuma Energy Nigeria Limited to construct four 300 megawatts coalto-power plants in Kogi State at an estimated cost of $5bn (N1.2tn). The Chairman, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, noted that on July 31, 2014, the company submitted an application for an amendment, which would enable

he reigning Miss United Nations, Nigeria’s Precious Chikwendu, has secured the franchise to host Miss United Nations (Nigeria) Beauty Pageant in Abuja. Chikwendu’s Non-Governmental OrganizationSnow Heart Foundation, will host the Pageant after entry for the contest must have closed on April 7. She said at a media briefing at the weekend in Abuja that her foundation was also partnering several agencies for charity works across the country. According to her, "I have contributed in the

ollowing the last week's disruption ofelection to usher in a new leadership topilot its affairs for the next four years, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has scheduled a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting for Wednesday to decide a new date for the election. The labour umbrella body, in a statement issued by its General

leven female politicians from Bayelsa on Saturday night died in a ghastly auto crash, while one person survived from the wreckage of their vehicle which burst into flames. The accident occurred at the Ahoada axis of the East-West road in Rivers.

The Bayelsa Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Vincent Jack, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Yenagoa. He explained that nine of the 11 persons were burnt to death, while the rest two died without burns.

“Many others, who sustained injuries during the accident were rushed to Madonna clinic in the area,’’ the FRSC official said. He said the accident occurred when the tyre of a Toyota Sienna car burst and rammed into the bus carrying the women. “The car then also rammed into the bus in

confusion, a situation which led to the bus going up in flames,’’ Jack said. NAN gathered that the Coaster bus in which the women were travelling in bore the inscription "Women For Change Initiative’’, a non-government organisation (NGO) promoted by First Lady Patience Jonathan.

Secretary, Dr. Peter OzoEson, said the leadership of NLC immediately convened a meeting of its National Administrative Council (NAC) after the election was stalemated, where it resolved to convene a meeting of the National Executive Council on Wednesday, for the purpose of fixing a new date to take the vote. Ozo-Eson regretted the printing error that led to the disruption of the election, which he noted could have been resolved amicably.

Insecurity has crippled our services in North East, says NIPOST Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

11 Bayelsa female politicians die in auto crash

building of schools in some parts of the country. Our foundation has been to Cross River, Delta State, Lagos State and other parts of Nigeria, and we intend to do more." Speaking on the upcoming event, she explained that the United Nations Pageant “focuses on volunteer works and each contestant must have a background in volunteer work in her community. “I would like to urge Nigerians within the age bracket of 19 and 29 years to enter for the pageant because of the vistas it opens for winners.

NLC to fix date for election Wednesday Abuja

L-R: Consumer Services Manager; Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Mrs. Peace Emele; Head, Public Affairs and Communications, Mr. Uzo Odenigbo; Chief Executive Officer, Wecyclers Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Bilkiss Adebiyi-Abiola and Group Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC), Mrs. Klaske De Jong, during a visit to Wecyclers waste collection hub in Surulere, Lagos

it assign the licence to four different Special Purpose Vehicles of 300MW plants each. He said, “Following the completeness of the application, the commission passed a resolution dated November 11, 2014 authorising the company to publish the statutory notices in line with the mandatory provisions of Section 70(2) of the EPSR Act. The commission on December 18, 2014 approved the recommendation to amend and assign Licence No. NERC/ LC/066 to the plants.”

Chikwendu to host Nigerian edition of Miss United Nations

Yekeen Nurudeen

Emmanuel Marsha

s the Nigerian Army continues to restore peace in the troubled three North Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) has said that insecurity in the region has crippled its services in those three states. The Manager, Public Relations of the organisation, Mr. Tai Olaniyi, told New Telegraph in Abuja that the insurgency in the

North East has reduced the mail delivery rate in the three states since the commencement of Boko Haram attacks. He said NIPOST has had its offices affected in Borno and Yobe states by the insurgents' attacks. When asked about the financial implications on NIPOST revenue drive, he said the Post has not quantified its losses in terms of naira and kobo, but noted that Postal workers there were psychologically disturbed by the spate of attacksin the region.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro Police declare 10 bankers wanted for N125m fraud

Camillus Nnaji

he Zonal Command of the police comprising Lagos and Ogun states said it had obtained a warrant of arrest from a Magistrates’ Court in Lagos to go after 10 fraudsters alleged to have defrauded a bank to the tune of N125 million. The names, addresses and photographs of the suspects are with the police. The zonal Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Gbenga Adeoye, told our correspondent yesterday that it was a usual practice in the police to occasionally publish names, addresses and photographs of suspects for easy arrest. He said: “It does not necessarily mean they are wanted by this zone, they may be on the wanted lists of other formations and ours is to use our network to go after them and hand them over to the different formations. “When any person is involved in a crime such as fraud, jailbreak or murder, he is required to make himself available. When he fails to do so, we shall publish his details and go after him. “On the bankers who are at large now, the suspects now are being investigated for alleged forgery and obtaining money by false pretence. “A warrant of arrest has been duly obtained from a Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State against the suspected fraudsters.” It was gathered that the suspects conspired with others to obtain financial facilities of N15,055,541; N10,894,478 and N24,597,628. The also obtained N9,983,195, N11,114,992, N12,231,958, N8,663,833, N10,827,561, N5,657,937, and N15,054,383 from a bank.

DEATH

A corps member gets drowned while having fun on Valentine’s Day

Corps member drowns celebrating Valentine

Tony Anichebe Uyo

young man, Victor Daniels, belonging to 2014 batch of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members posted to Akwa Ibom State got drowned while celebrating Valentine’s Day. Daniels died on Saturday while swimming at the popular Ibeno beach, an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean. The deceased, who many of his friends described as a jolly good fellow, had won many ‘Mr Macho’ awards in his state and during his university days. Efforts to get full information about the background of the late Daniels proved abortive as the Akwa Ibom NYSC office was closed for the weekend while calls put to some officials were not answered. Meanwhile, a native of Ibeno Local Government Area who is a fisherman, Mr Ekpe Okon,

File picture of corps members during parade

said those got drowned at the river were required by tradition to be buried beside the river. However, Ekpe said that the body could still be taken by the family after certain rituals were

NDLEA arrests 30, destroys Indian hemp farm Babatope Okeowo Akure

he National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) apprehended about 30 people for various drug offences in different parts of Ondo State at the weekend. The agency also disclosed that drug peddlers were using government and missionary vehicles in order to escape the long arm of the law. Besides, the NDLEA also discovered an Indian hemp warehouse in Akure, the state capital, just as it destroyed an Indian hemp plantation in the city. The state NDLEA Commander, Mr Ibrahim Abdul, who noted that cases of drug abuse were rampant in the

state, disclosed that a large plantation of Indian hemp was recently destroyed by NDLEA officials in the state. Abdul regretted that missionary, government and security vehicles were used to convey cannabis sativa, saying that the agency would monitor all government vehicles henceforth. According to him, 26 drug offenders are currently serving jail terms in the state, just as he hinted that 11 drug offenders were currently facing trial. The NDLEA chief said the organisation had also intensified efforts at curbing the menace of drug abuse among teenagers and youths, adding that a synergy now existed among all security agencies in the state to apprehend all drug offenders.

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

File picture of NDLEA officials on a cannabis farm

performed to appease the gods. A corps member, Mr Obiora Ike, who was at the beach at the time of the tragedy, said they were afraid to go deep into the ocean to rescue the victim when

the tide swept Daniels away. He said: “None of us is a professional swimmer. We were there for Valentine’s fun. So, when the trouble came we were helpless.”

Three graduates held for robbery Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

he joint operation teams of the Ogun State Police Command and OP MESA attached to 35 Artillery Brigade Alamala, Abeokuta, have arrested a gang of young graduates for allegedly snatching a Toyota Highlander ‘Jeep’ at Festac Town, Lagos State. The suspects are 22-year-old Amuche Chukwuemeka, who is a graduate of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State and also identified as the ring leader; Blessing Edottie, 26, from Bayelsa State, and Santos Peter, 25, from Delta State, also graduates. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement yesterday that the suspects committed the crime on February 4 at Festac Town, Lagos and were intercepted about 8:30pm same day at Ibafo area in Ogun State. Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the suspected armed robbers had all confessed to the crime. He said: “The suspected armed robbers, who were on top speed after the operation on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, for escape, were intercepted by the joint operation teams who were on their routine patrol on the expressway.

“The teams forced the moving vehicle to stop when they noticed the suspicious attitude of the occupants who were eventually found to be armed robbers. “The suspected armed robbers had kidnapped the owner of the snatched car (name withheld) and moved with the car before they dropped him along the road having used him to operate the security device fixed on the said car. “The vehicle was demobilised and stopped at a point on the expressway but the suspects hired the services of a rewire (technician) to start the engine again and continued their movement before the arrest. They have confessed to the crime and (are) helping the police in their investigation.” Adejobi added that the state acting Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, has ordered that the case be transferred to the Lagos State Police Command where the robbery incident took place for proper investigation. Gwandu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, was quoted to have commended the joint operation teams of the police and then Army for the good job and “charged other operational outfits in the state to add more pep in achieving adequate security of lives and property in Ogun State”.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Rainstorm renders 200 homeless in Delta Dominic Adewole ASABA

ainstorm, which wreaked havoc on Etua-Oliogo, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State, has destroyed Etua-Ise Primary School building, Community Town Hall, Solar-Powered Water Scheme and a church. The rainstorm, which did not spare economic trees, has rendered over 200 persons homeless. The rain, which started with heavy storm, it was gathered, started about 7.30pm on Saturday night, shook most of the mud houses in the area before blowing off their roofs. A chief in the community, Samuel Chime, who expressed shock at the magnitude of the damage, said in the history of the communi-

ty, such destruction of property worth millions of naira had never been witnessed. He said: “The victims had gone through the stress of sleeping outside their homes. The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and our local government chairman must do something urgently to cushion the effect of the devastation.” The Chairman of the youth in the community, Mr Reuben Ekpetor, who appealed to public spirited individuals, begged the state government to immediately intervene by bringing succour to the victims, who are mostly farmers. Corroborating his views, the councillor representing the area, Frank Ukpe and the Supervisor for Works in the local government, Andrew Obi, assured the victims of quick intervention.

Herdsmen arrested for armed robbery Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

olice in Ogun State Police yesterday said they had arrested three Fulani herdsmen for alleged armed robbery in Sabo area of Abeokuta, the state capital. The suspects had been terrorising the people of the area, commuters and other road users on Igboora and Ayetoro roads before their arrest. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement that the items recovered from the suspects included dummy guns, expended cartridges, assorted charms and some cutlasses. Adejobi gave the names of the suspects as Haruna Ibrahim, Usman Burani and Haruna Usman. The PPRO disclosed that operatives attached to Ilupeju Sabo Division of the police command arrested the herdsmen a few days after they had robbed members of Atoba Estate in Sabo area of Abeokuta. He said: “Members of the community, who had placed

The three suspected armed robbers

the suspected armed robbers under surveillance, sighted the robbers while rearing their herd of cattle around the area and were able to identify them as the robbers who robbed them and carted away their belongings some weeks back. “The community leaders contacted the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area, CSP Gbenga Megbope, who led his anti-robbery team to the scene where the robbers were arrested. “The arrested herdsmen led police to their hideout in a jungle called Igbo Olodumare on Igboora Road, Ogun State where additional two Fulani herdsmen were arrested and a gun with cartridges recovered from them. Other weapons recovered from them include some cutlasses, expended cartridges, assorted charms, dummy guns etc.” Adejobi added that the state acting Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, had directed that the matter be immediately transferred to the Department of Criminal Investigation (CID), Eleweran, Abeokuta for thorough investigation.

File picture of a house destroyed by rainstorm

Gunmen kill Ogoni student activist Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

students’ unionist, Comrade Nfiri Sebastine, has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Bori in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State. Sebastine, who was in the Science Laboratory Department at the Rivers State Polytechnic, was the financial secretary of the Ogoni Students’ Network (OSN) world-wide and also worked as a fuel attendant on a part time basis. Reports say he was shot dead on Saturday while discharging his duties at Barry Oil Nigeria Limited, Bori, by hoodlums who fled the scene immediately. OSN has called on security operatives to move into action and fish out his killers.

“We are therefore calling on the law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book. We are also calling on human rights activists to come into this matter to ensure justice is done to Ogoni Students,” the group said in a statement. Also, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), described the killing as unlawful, stressing that even if he had committed an offence or offended anybody, those responsible for the killing carried out a heinous act. MOSOP’s spokesman, Bariara Kpalap, who reacted in a text message, equally urged security agencies to bring the culprits to book. He said: “We condemn the dastardly act, which was reported to have been executed without provocation as well as sympathise with the family of

the deceased and pray God to give them the fortitude to bear the irredeemable loss. “However, we reiterate our position that violence is not an alternative to peace and the early this is realised, the better for all of us. Even if the victim had committed any crime, we do not see how unlawfully taking his life would resolve whatever may have informed the heinous act. “Nonetheless, we call on the police to investigate the crime with a view to bringing the culprits to justice. We as well entreat the people to remain calm and law-abiding.” When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Mohammad, said he was not aware of the killing. He said: “I am yet to get the information. You only confirm what you are aware of.”

Group condemns Mbu’s call to shoot civilians Juliana Francis

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), has condemned the charge of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, in charge of Zone II, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, to policemen to retaliate and attack civilians who first attack them during elections. The group said that the charge was not just reckless, irresponsible, but also inciting. The National Coordinator of organisation, Mr Okechukw Nwanguma, said: “NOPRIN condemns, without reservation, the statement credited to Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2, comprising Lagos and Ogun states on Thursday in which he threatened ‘We’ll Kill 20 for Each Police Life Lost During Elections.’ “This is a very reckless and irresponsible statement amounting to an incitement of the police to shoot citizens at will, hiding under the ruse

of self-defence. Mbu has simply handed a blank cheque to police officers within the zone, already notorious for extrajudicial killing, to kill more citizens.” Nwanguma added that Mbu’s directive to police officers that ‘If they shoot you, shoot back in selfdefence. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in self-defence…’ could easily be exploited by the police and politicians who control them to target political opponents. The group noted that in the first place, it was not the case that citizens often shoot at the police, adding that on the contrary, it had always been the police shooting citizens on a daily basis, often for no justifiable cause and without redress and accountability. He said: “We’ve often condemned the high casualty rate among police officers in the course of combating bandits. The work of the police is difficult and dangerous and demands the highest level of responsibility and professionalism. “The primary duty of the

Mbu

police is to serve and protect, not to kill the citizens, as Mbu is now inciting the police under his command to do.” According to Nwanguma, the incendiary statement and directive by Mbu on the police to kill must be viewed very seriously as it represented a very dangerous development and a foreboding of tragic things to expect in the days to come under Mbu.

News

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

xcept something is done urgently to address the situation, academic activities at the various public polytechnics across the country would again be grounded following threats by the three unions in the institutions to down tools if the Federal Government failed to reverse the suspension of the implementation of CONTISS 15 in polytechnics. In a statement jointly issued yesterday by the Academic Staff Union

MONday, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NATIONAL

Again, strike looms in polytechnics of Polytechnics (ASUP), Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) and Senior Staff of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), the unions said the Federal Government in a circular dated January 26, 2015 has suspended the implementation of CONTISS 15 without recourse to the spirit and letters of agreement with the unions in the sector. The unions in the statement titled; “Breakdown of Industrial Peace Looms in the Polytechnic Sector,”

said despite government's failure to honour agreement it had with them, particularly the one that led to the suspension of one year strike in July last year, the government came up with the suspension of a statutory salary structure approved by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, which implementation dates back to 2009. The aggrieved unions lamented that six months after their one year strike was called off in defer-

ence to the then newly appointed Minister of Education’s plea for time, and to his strong assurances that the thorny issues would be resolved within three months, none of the demands have been met. “The White Paper on the Visitations to Federal Polytechnics is still yet to be released five years after the exercise, the discrimination against polytechnic graduates has heightened in the labour market due to the non-removal of ceiling on their career pro-

gression, the polytechnic sector is still being grossly underfunded, the National Polytechnics Commission (NPC) is still yet to be established, not much progress has been made in the review of the Polytechnic Act, among other demands. The needs assessment of public polytechnics has been abandoned nine months after the exercise was concluded and the report submitted to government. Disturbingly, the rot and decay in the polytech-

NECO saga: Council director attacks journalists Dan Atori Minna

s the crisis rocking the National Examination Council (NECO) gets tougher, the media over the weekend came under attack as the Director of Account and Finance, Dr. James Adesokan Ojebode, threatened to deal with journalists who approached him to get his reaction over the lingering crisis. Ojebode, who parades himself as the acting registrar of NECO, was alleged to have spent 42 years in service contrary to civil service rules and he is a major actor in the terminal leave saga. When our correspondent met with him in his office in Minna to get his response on his appointment and how long he has worked as a civil servant, he fumed and raged saying; “please I don't have time, are you the Head of Service?” he queried. He said: “Who are you to ask me questions. Leave that to me and leave that one for government.” When our correspondent tried to explain he meant no harm, but just to do his job, Ojebode asked angrily; “How old are you? Are you a judge? I said you are not concerned about that because that is my personal life. Have I ever come to you to say, who is your girlfriend? “Please, for God sake, leave my office; I say leave my office now. How can you be asking me questions? Who are you? If you want any information go to Admin Office and don't come to me. Who are you and how old are you. Leave my office now.”

nic system on account of incompetent governance and administration deepens progressively as supervision appears extensively compromised,” the unions lamented. They called on the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to without delay, reverse the purported circular suspending the implementation of CONTISS 15. This was as the unions also asked the minister to cause the governing councils and management of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko and Ado-Ekiti, to reverse their purported proscription of the unions at the respective polytechnics. While warning that the unions’ goodwill should not be taken for granted, they stressed that failure to reverse “this retrogressive and illegitimate directive will leave the unions with no other choice, but to resort to the last option.

Jonathan to inaugurate four war ships February 19 L-R: Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Isaac Kekemeke and former Ekiti State governor, Segun Oni, during the governor’s condolence visit to the APC chairman over the demise of his wife, in Akure…at the weekend.

We'll run a market-based economy –Buhari Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, has assured that his government will run a market based economy; with clear and unambiguous regulatory framework and effective enforcement mechanism with zero tolerance for corruption. Also, the APC presidential campaign or-

ganization has decried abandonment of the N76 billion Closed Circuit Camera Television (CCCTV) project in Abuja and Lagos. The APCPCO Director of Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja yesterday lamented the shoddy and inadequate delivery on the project, which was designed to cover Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Bayelsa, Kaduna and Kano in its pilot phase. The APC Campaign queried the sincerity of

Sambo, Yero urge Muslim clerics to educate followers Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

ice President Namadi Sambo and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State have called on Imams and Islamic preachers to educate their followers on the Islamic injunction of obeying Allah and respecting constituted authority. The duo, who spoke at a sensitization seminar for Islamic Scholars in the North West region

on violence-free general elections yesterday, also called on religious clerics to join hands with other stakeholders to ensure violence-free elections next month. The seminar,which was organized by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Islamic Matters and state House Mosque, in collaboration with Islamic organizations of Nigeria, was aimed at curbing election violence.

the Nigerian Government in its battle against insecurity and corruption, when it could not deliver on a project that was supposed to use technology, which President Jonathan lately has a passion for, to make our cities safer like is the practise in other countries. He said: "It is heartbreaking that in an era that we are confronted by huge security challenges, especially as it relates to the insurgency, the Jonathan administration has failed woefully to deliver

on the safe cities' project after billions of our scarce resources have been spent, wasted or stolen on these phantom projects that have not added any value to the nation's security asset." According to the campaign organization, it is bewildering that the PDP-led government has failed to report on the status of Abuja CCTV Camera Project even after the House of Representatives ordered probe and countless petitions to the antigraft agency.

Tony Elumelu Foundation appoints new CEO Mojeed Alabi

new Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Reid Whitlock, has been appointed for Tony Elemelu Foundation, one of Africa’s leading nongovernmental and philanthropic organisation established by the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Mr. Tony Elumelu. The appointment, which was made by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, took effect from yesterday, February 15.

Whitlock’s appointment follows the appointment of the Foundation’s pioneer Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Wiebe Boer, as the Director of Strategy at Heirs Holdings, Elumelu's pan-African proprietary investment company. The new CEO, according to the Foundation, will be bringing on board about 30 years of experience as a business school rector, diplomat, entrepreneur, strategy consultant and advisor to leaders in Africa, Asia and the Middle East on economic development.

Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Nigerian Navy has announced the acquisition of four warships, in a renewed effort to battle piracy and oil theft. A statement signed by the Director of Information of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Kabir Aliyu, listed the warships are:NNS CENTENARY, NNS OKPABANA, NNS PROSPERITY and NNS SAGBAMA. The statement reads: "The Nigerian Navy has recently taken delivery of four warships. "Accordingly, the Commissioning Ceremony of thefour ships will be performed by the President, Commanderin-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR on Thursday, 19 February 2015. The venue is the Naval Dockyard Ltd, Victoria Island, Lagos at 9:30 am. "The acquisition is a landmark achievement for the Nigerian Navy and the Federal Government. The occasion is unique because this is the firsttime in the history of the Nigerian Navy that four capital warships will be commissioned at once. It is a demonstration of the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the Nigerian Navy to meet contemporary security challenges.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Attack on President

General elections

Violence

Interview

Obasanjo, Nigeria’s number one enemy – Fayose

APC: PDP lobbying emirs, lawmakers for interim govt

Peace pact in Rivers

Obasanjo should keep quiet –Bakare

Politics

Going their separate ways

Governor Mu’azu Babangida, Aliyu last Wednesday, allegedly ordered his deputy, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, out of the State Executive Council meeting for reportedly calling him a thief after his (Ibeto) defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). DAN ATORI reports

fter about eight years of working together as a team, distrust, insincerity and injustice have severed the long-time relationship between Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and his deputy, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto. The situation got to a peak on Wednesday February 11 when the Chief Servant, as the governor is popularly called, ordered his deputy out of the State Executive Council meeting. Governor Aliyu had earlier at different fora hinted that he and his deputy have very good relationship and that despite Ibeto’s defection to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), he will not be denied all rights and privileges as a deputy governor of the state. Their romance got soured when Ibeto joined the APC at the presidential rally addressed by the standard bearer of the party for the March 28 election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. He claimed that his defection was informed by the refusal of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to entertain his petition after the governorship primaries which he lost to the former Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Umar Mo-

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

Ibeto and Aliyu... when the going was good

hammed Nasko. When asked if his boss was aware of his plans to defect, he said: “There was no need to consult my boss, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu; he is aware of my mission to defect to the APC.” Meanwhile, Governor Aliyu told journalists in Minna, the state capital, after collecting his Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) at the Tunga Primary School that Ibeto remains the deputy governor of the state and will continue to enjoy all rights and privileges due to his office. According to him, “Ibeto reserves the right to determine who and what group he will want to belong to. So, his defection does not make any difference. He is the deputy governor and he will continue to enjoy all rights.” If this statement is anything to go by, then the governor has eaten his words. Reason: the governor ordered Ibeto out of the State Executive Council meeting after he alleged that the deputy governor had called him a thief during a campaign rally. The deputy governor told journalists that his principal, Aliyu, ordered him out of the meeting. It was reliably gathered that the governor in his opening remarks before the commencement of the council meeting said he will not chair a council meeting where the deputy was seated. Ibeto said he had to first relocate to his office but had to pack valuable items out of the office when he got the fillers that his boss would

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

...He has the information and clips that I called him a thief and that he will not preside over the council when I am seated

not want to have anything to do with him at the council. But the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Israel Ebije, said that the deputy governor sought and was granted permission to stay away from the State Executive Council meeting, adding that he was entitled to all the entitlements of his office. However, the deputy governor described the statement as false and does not represent the true picture of what had transpired at the council. He said: “If this statement is coming from government then let me react. It is not true that I excused myself. When I received notification for the council meeting of Wednesday I went as usual. But before the council started the governor in his opening remarks said that people and members of the executive council were aware that I have decamped from the PDP to APC, and that we had gone on campaign round the state. “He (Aliyu) said that he has the information and clips that I called him a thief and that he will not preside over the council when I am seated. He said he was no longer sure that I will not use council deliberations against the PDP government. “I objected and explained that I have never called him a thief and that everywhere we went, people always wanted to know why I defected to APC and I have been telling them I left PDP because of the injustice in the party.” The deputy governor said that although he quietly left office as a

law abiding citizen after the governor had threatened to use the security against him, but that he was studying the relevant provisions of the constitution. “I will challenge the governor’s undemocratic action in court appropriately. “The governor has no constitutional power to stop me from attending legitimate council meetings. If I am deprived from attending council meetings, whatever decisions taken at such meetings are null and void,” he said. When asked if he will take legal actions, Ibeto said: “As far as we are concerned in APC, we are talking to lawyers and they are giving indications that when the matter gets to the court, judgement will be delivered. “In any case, if I am forcefully prevented from attending the meeting of which I am legally a member, then the tendency is that at the end of the day the judgement will be made in such a way that all the deliberations they did in the council will be null and void, because I was barred as member from attending. “I do not want to conclude or pre-empt the judgement, but we are trying to know which aspect of the law we will use. And even if it means going to court to get injunctions we will do so.” Speaking also, the chairman of the APC in Niger State, Engr. Mohammed Jibril Imam in an interview with New Telegraph vowed to drag the governor to court after consultations over his illegal action. Imam said the governor’s action is unconstitutional and illegal, adding that “APC is still consulting to ensure the deputy’s right is not trampled upon. “We have already condemned the action. Council meeting is not a one-day event one. We intend to write the state government for clarification.” The state PDP urged the deputy governor not to embark on cheap blackmail. “Ibeto should be man enough to say he left the council chamber on his own volition on what SEC thought was on moral ground. He should stop peddling lies. We know he is trying to look for cheap popularity but he should do so when there is element of truth in it,” the PDP spokesman, Hon. Hassan Saba, said. For now, the centre can no longer hold for Aliyu and Ibeto as things have fallen apart.

Politics

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Obasanjo, Nigeria’s number one enemy – Fayose Wale Elegbede

he leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West yesterday came hard on former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his persistent attack on President Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo had on Saturday accused Jonathan of plotting to stay longer in office, predicting that the president would be disgraced out of office. Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, described Obasanjo as Nigeria’s number one enemy. Former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, urged traditional

lGeorge, Kashamu berate ex-president over utterances rulers in the South-West to call former Obasanjo to order over his utterances and attacks on President Jonathan. The chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the South-West, Prince Buruji Kashamu, called on President Jonathan to arrest Obasanjo over alleged corruption cases while serving as president. Fayose, in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, described Obasanjo as a cancer. “Obasanjo is a cancer that may never get

S’West PDP tasks INEC

he South-West zonal chapter of the Presidential Campaign Council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the postponement of the 2015 general elections as a crucial opportunity for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remedy “its apparent lack of preparedness to conduct a credible presidential election on the earlier date of February 14.” The campaign council, in a statement issued yesterday by its Chairman, publicity sub-committee, Chief Akin Oshuntokun, said the lop-sidedness in the distribution of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) conferred advantage on a section of the country. “A distribution pattern

in which insurgency ravaged areas record over 70 per cent collection rate of PVCs to the 40 per cent average distribution rate in the relatively stable and peaceful South-West calls for concern and most certainly requires a lot of explanation,” the PDP said. The party also berated the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for kicking against the postponement. “For the APC leadership to have referred to the postponement of the election dates as a coup against democracy, even as it became apparent that about 60 per cent of the people of the region would not have been able to vote, is sheer wickedness and a coup against the people they claim to lead,” Oshuntokun said.

Nri Igwe adopts Umeh for Senate Tony Okafor Awka

he Royal Majesty of Nri, the ancestral home of Ndigbo, Igwe Obidiegwu Onyesoh and his council, yesterday adopted the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Anambra Central senatorial candidate, Chief Victor Umeh, for the March 28 election. The monarch enjoined Ndigbo to endeavour to send their best to the National Assembly by voting wisely. Igwe Onyesoh said he had followed Umeh’s track records, and was satisfied that he is the most desirable candidate in the next Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for Ndigbo. He said the battle for the Senate of Anambra Central Senatorial Dis-

trict was not Umeh’s but a collective responsibility for the people of the state in particular and Ndigbo in general, assuring that his Nri kingdom would be mobilised to deliver bulk votes to the APGA boss in the polls. Onyensoh, who is the traditional ruler of Hon. Uche Ekwunife, a strong contender in the senatorial race, observed that the trouble with Ndigbo was that they would not want to accept defeat even when they know they were fighting a superior contender. Umeh had told the monarch and his cabinet that his sole purpose of going to the Senate is to fight for the Igbo cause as envisioned by the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, whom he said had always wanted Ndigbo to be in the mainstream of Nigeria’s politics.

cured in a lifetime. “The moment Obasanjo is not the one controlling a house, he will want the house pulled down but this time around, he has failed. “He is a confusionist who has lost his status as a statesman and Nigerians should simply ignore him,” Fayose said. He expressed confidence that President Jonathan will be re-elected to complete his eight-year tenure. He said: “Obasanjo is only fighting President Jonathan because he prevented him (Obasanjo) from ruling Nigeria from his Ota Farm. “Obasanjo has always benefitted from the misfortune of others and he is living with the impression that he is the wisest person in the whole world. “President Jonathan has made it impossible for

Obasanjo to run his presidency for him and for this reason, he is supporting Buhari, hoping that he will be the one to nominate ministers for Buhari if he becomes president. “However, I have this bad news for Obasanjo. Nigeria is not his football that he can kick around as he likes. President Jonathan will be re-elected, and Nigeria will be freed from his (Obasanjo) bondage once and for all.” Addressing newsmen yesterday in Lagos, George said it’s unsavoury for Obasanjo to compare Jonathan to Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, adding that there is no comparison between the candidature of President Jonathan and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

“These are trying times for the country and I think the attacks on the president by Obasanjo call for more action. “Our Obas should please call Baba to order and ensure he remains in that pinnacle of respect because these attacks on President Jonathan are becoming too personal. No human being is perfect.” While describing Obasanjo’s support for Buhari as a high level of anti-party activity, he called on the PDP leadership to take action against the former president. Also speaking yesterday in Lagos, Kashamu said Obasanjo is aiming to divide and collapse Nigeria, hence his verbal attacks on the president. “Chief Obasanjo is a wounded lion that should be caged to preserve the

nation because he yearns to be ruling Nigeria through the back door. I call on the president to immediately arrest and prosecute Obasanjo for gross corrupt acts recorded during his inglorious tenure. “My immediate reaction when I heard of Obasanjo’s latest outbursts were when did this pseudo-democrat become a defender of democracy? Who has corrupted our electoral and democratic firmament more than Chief Obasanjo? How can the architect of Third Term Agenda accuse anyone of trying to scuttle democracy? “Obasanjo still wants to continue in power because if the APC wins, he will be the one that will control everything. All that is going on now is hypocritical, how can a pastor work with a fanatic?”

L-R: Sokoto State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship running mate, Ahmed Aliyu; Speaker, House of Representatives and governorship candidate, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Governor Aliyu Wamakko, at the party’s rally in Dangen Shuni LGA …at the weekend.

Group accuses US of fuelling political tension Temitope Ogunbanke

ove on Nigeria, a civic action group promoting democracy in Nigeria, has accused President Barrack Obama’s administration of United States of fuelling political tension in Nigeria to achieve the prediction of Nigeria’s break-up in 2015. In a statement issued yesterday by its National Coordinator, Mr. Clem Aguiyi, the group accused the United States of meddlesome in Nigeria’s election and internal affairs. It also alleged that a political consulting firm founded by Obama’s confidant, David Axelrod of Chicago-based AKPD, has been far more involved in backing the All Progressives Congress (APC)

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), ahead of the March 28 presidential election in Nigeria. “With the elections now delayed for another six weeks amid the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unpreparedness and security concerns related to Boko Haram, we wish to raise new questions about AKPD’s work on behalf of the APC and Buhari.

“It will be recalled that AKPD’s ties to the APC first sparked controversy in March, when Boko Haram’s terror campaign attracted international outrage and shined a spotlight on Nigeria’s problems combating terrorism. Under pressure from the press and negative attention, the AKPD told reporters in March that it had ceased its work with the APC. “But while AKPD has continued to claim it has no ongoing relationship with APC, the internal emails sent between APC advisers over the past several months and obtained by the Free Beacon confirm that they work with AKPD continued to date,” it stated. Backing its claim with proof that AKPD is

still working with APC, the group disclosed that in a series of messages between senior APC officials and advisers from September 2014 to late January 2015, AKPD polling and other work are repeatedly discussed. “Our intelligence report obtained from sources familiar with the APC’s campaign says that the party has been trying to keep AKPD’s ongoing work quiet. It is rumoured that AKPD employees are being housed in an APC compound located in Lagos, according to multiple sources. “We face a different kind of siege and insurgency. We call on the DSS and other security agencies to search for these political mercenaries, arrest and bring them to justice now,” the group added.

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

APC: PDP lobbying emirs, lawmakers for interim govt Temitope Ogunbanke

he All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of sending emissaries to Northern leaders, especially the Emirs, to push for an interim government. National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji

Lai Mohammed, made the allegation yesterday. “It is an open secret that as we write this statement, their emissary is touring the North meeting with Emirs and others to push for an interim government. It has also been revealed how they plan to use the National Assembly to seek tenure elongation. Never before

has a sitting government been this desperate to avoid elections. This election phobia by a sitting government is a first in contemporary history,” Mohammed said. The opposition party urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to plunge Nigeria into crisis or give the country the Gbagbo treatment, all

in pursuit of a personal interest at the expense of national interest. Mohammed said: “The plot that landed Ivory Coast under Laurent Gbagbo in hot water, and for which Gbagbo is currently cooling his heels in a holding cell at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, was not as elaborate as that

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

being pushed by the PDP and the Jonathan administration. That is why we are urging them to tread softly and save Nigeria from crisis. “We know Nigerians have seen through the games being played by the PDP and the Jonathan administration. Nigerians and the entire world know those who are behind the election postponement, the myriad of court cases seeking to disqualify our presidential candidate, the ongoing efforts to depopulate opposition strong-

holds, the devilish advertisements seeking to use ethnicity and religion to divide Nigerians, the campaign to jettison the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and card readers in favour of Temporary Voters’ Cards (TVCs) as well as the tenure elongation and interim government options.” APC also fingered the PDP in the circulation of anti-election leaflets in Gombe State because of desperation to ensure that the general elections do not hold at all costs. The party said even the attack on Gombe on Saturday was suspect, wondering how Boko Haram insurgents will drive on the highway from Maiduguri to Gombe in a convoy of many vehicles without being spotted or stopped at the myriad of military checkpoints dotting the area.

Don’t shift polls again, APC warns Clement James L-R: Director of Operations, Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria, Mr. Mike Amoji; Director of Social Media, Mr. Ejiro Eghagha; Director-General, Mr. Preye Dressman; Director of Treasury, Ms. Ify Okparaocha and an official, Ms. Chinonso Nwangwu, at a briefing on the postponement of general elections in Abuja.

Poll shift in the interest of Nigerians, says Rajis-Okapara Wale Elegbede

igeria’s Ambassador to Singapore, Mrs. Nonye Rajis-Okpara, has described the rescheduling of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as an answered prayer for Nigerians desirous of peaceful, fair and credible polls. She added that the poll postponement is in the interest of Nigerians. According to the envoy, the many lapses and unpreparedness of the electoral body, would have cast aspersions on the integrity and sanctity of the

election if not postponed, stressing that the shift of the dates is a sound decision by INEC. She said: “The postponement of the elections is an answered prayer for many Nigerians desirous of peaceful, fair and credible election. Religious leaders and the populace have all been praying. Had we gone ahead with the elections as planned, no one knows what the outcome could have been. “Tension was high, polity heated up, and agitations over non-collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) by majority of eligible voters were intense. No adequate ar-

rangements for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) to cast their vote.” Speaking on the possible upshot of the initial election dates if allowed to stand, she said: “I contend that two things would have probably happened; a lot of people would have fought in court for their voting right; the election might have been nullified, resulting in massive economic waste. “The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) media briefing revealed that it was not prepared. Consequently, this unpreparedness would have caused an undesirable outcome that would have tarnished INEC’s image and cred-

ibility significantly.” While noting that it would have been dangerous to ignore the advice of the Security Chiefs warning of going to the polls without adequate protection for lives, properties, and election materials, she averred that the May 29 handover date remains sacrosanct. “The new election dates are still within our legislative/legal framework, so why rush and rubbish the integrity of our electoral process? Since INEC still has the constitutional right to conduct the election within the rescheduled dates, the May 29, 2015 handover remains sacrosanct,” Rajis-Okpara said.

Calabar

he All Progressive Congress (APC) has warned that it will not tolerate a second shift of the general elections. The National Vice Chairman (South South) of the party, Mr. Hilliard Eta, gave this warning yesterday in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, while speaking with journalists. “We are aware that INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, had said his commission was ready for the polls, but the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mounted pressure on him to shift it because they knew they were going to lose. But it is in the interest of the president and his party not attempt to shift it again because of dire consequences,” Eta

warned. The APC chieftain said in 2011, the SouthSouth voted overwhelmingly for the president because of the emotions and sentiments, but those sentiments, according to him, are no longer there because of what he described as “disappointing outing” by President Goodluck Jonathan so far. “You will recall that in 2011, more than 90 per cent of the people in the South-South voted overwhelmingly for the president. We did that because emotions were high and there was this sentiment that he is our brother. But what has the SouthSouth people received as pay back? Roads in the region remain in very bad state and no single federal project has been executed here. How then can we continue to trust him with our votes,” he said.

s guber bid Ladoja: Ajimobi lacks requisite experience to govern Oyo Group backs Isiaka’ Akin Odunsi, is the other Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

ormer governor of Oyo State and governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the April 11 election, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has accused Governor Abiola Ajimobi of lacking the requisite experience to govern the state. “Senator Ajimobi lacked the experience and temperament to govern this state, having failed woefully in fulfilling his promises to the people of Oyo State,” he said. The Accord governor-

ship candidate spoke in London while addressing Oyo State indigenes resident in the United Kingdom. Ladoja wondered why most of the roads Ajimobi planned to dualise are not completed or some abandoned few months to the end of his administration. “The situation with the Ogbomoso dualised road is pathetic as is clear that the contractor for reasons best known to the government, failed to complete the job and the state government refused to compel the contractor to do a good job”. Ladoja accused Aji-

mobi of always finding excuses for his failure in the act of governance, and asked why the governor who claimed that he spent close to four years in providing peace and security when the people he is governing are stagnant in other areas of development. “Peace and security can only be meaningful if traders and market women make their daily bread without hindrance and unnecessary government overbearing. Security and peace will be meaningful. If civil servants receive their salaries as and when due and are fully engaged

to provide services they are employed for,” Ladoja said. In a statement issued by the Director of Public Communications, Ladoja Campaign Organisation, Akanmu Adeyanju, the governorship candidate accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of playing politics with the Ibadan circular road. He said he was surprised that despite the promises made by Ajimobi on several occasions that the project would kick off, the circular road has not seen the light of the day.

Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

group, Global Network of Ogun West Professionals in United Kingdom, has thrown its weight behind the governorship ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer in Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Isiaka. It said out of the two candidates from Ogun West Senatorial District vying for the governorship, Isiaka stands in a better position to lead the state. The standard bearer of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Senator

gubernatorial candidate who hails from Ogun West zone. The group, in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Dr Yanju Adegbite, said the PDP’s candidate antecedents, mission, vision, youthfulness and preparation for the task ahead informed the group’s decision. He said: “We see GNI (Gboyega Nasir Isiaka), who had contested once against the incumbent as a candidate to beat in the next election and the person who will bring development and industrialisation to our dear state.”

16 Politics For the third time, political gladiators in Rivers State have signed another peace accord ahead of the March 28 and April 11 general elections. The first two accords yielded no fruit with the spate of violence that followed. Will the third peace accord bring sanity in Rivers politics? EMMANUEL MASHA asks

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Peace pact in Rivers

he pact signed at the Police Officers Mess, Port Harcourt on Thursday, February 5, by the Rivers State chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), was the third in the quest for a peaceful election in the “Treasure Base of the Nation.” In the past few weeks, the state has been in the news for the wrong reason – the rising wave of politically motivated violence that has heightened tension as elections draw nearer. Unlike the first two pacts, where only a handful of candidates and party stalwarts were invited or showed up, the last was colourful as almost the entire candidates of the PDP, APC and other parties were given forms to fill under the supervision of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 6, Tunde Ogunsakin. The meeting was also attended by other security agencies as well as the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Gesila Khan. At the meeting, old friends who were once in the same party; who worked round the clock to ensure victory for their party in 2011, smiled, hugged, shook hands and quietly sat beside fellow party members. One of the candidates, who is seeking re-election to the State House of Assembly said that irrespective of party divide, and the campaign for votes, the state should come first. “Politics is not a do-or-die. Why are we interested in serving in the first place if not because we want to affect the lives of our people. I strongly feel that this gathering will help address the issue of violence in our state,” he said. The two previous pacts – the one supervised by the US Ambassador, James Enswistle and the one that was orchestrated by the outgoing Commissioner for Police, Mr. Dan Bature, failed before the ink used in signing them dried up. A few days after the second pact, about five High Courts were bombed by unknown persons after the state’s judiciary workers called off their eight-month-old strike. Expectedly, the PDP and APC played the blame game on the incident. While the PDP chairman, Felix Obuah, alleged that the APC carried out the bombings, and urged the party to state its reasons, the APC, which distanced itself from it, equally blamed the PDP for the act. Obuah, while condemning

Wike

the bomb blasts, said: “The PDP is blaming the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the ugly incident, demanding that it explains to Rivers people why it delights in the continued closure of courts in the state. “The PDP finds it irrational and indicting why Governor Chibuike Amaechi is not bothered about the continued closure of the courts neither is he moved by the suffering of litigants, lawyers and solicitors, and especially those languishing in detention and prisons because of the striking judiciary workers yet he gleefully and dutifully pays the salaries and allowances of the judiciary workers for staying at home.” But the APC, through its chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, while equally condemning the attacks, described the PDP as “the promoters of violence in the state.” Ikanya said: “The trends and threads of bombing in Rivers State as spearheaded by the PDP and its promoters in Rivers State are well known to all and sundry and for them to extend their bombings antecedent to government institutions should be a concern to all and sundry. We thought that it was only APC secretariats, billboards and supporters that are targets, but to start bombing courts show how barbaric these people can be. “To turn Rivers State into a war zone and scare away our cherished investors is not acceptable to us, but abhorable and condemnable. We expect the police and security organs to fish out these criminals and deal with them accordingly.” Ikanya also urged the perpetrators to desist from such acts, which he noted cast the state in bad light. At the third pact, AIG Ogunsakin used the opportunity to warn that in the coming days, his men would embark on stop and search operations to mop up illegal firearms in the state. The AIG said that peace and order remain his major concern in Rivers, and that “political activities must effectively accommodate the interests of all without undermining the fundamental human

Peterside

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

Political activities must effectively accommodate the interests of all without undermining the fundamental human rights of the citizens

Ogunsakin

rights of the citizens and without also compromising the peace, order, security and safety of lives and properties in Rivers State.” Ogunsakin added that he won’t condone acts that are capable of disrupting peace and order in the state from any quarters, noting that the recent spate of violence in the state must come to an end. He also informed that he had the mandate of the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, “to ensure that elections are peaceful and hitch-free in Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Cross Rivers and Rivers states,” the four states within his official jurisdiction. Ogunakin said: “In view of the fact that arms proliferation has always been a major issue in Rivers State, I have directed the Rivers State Police Command to embark on intensive stop and search of all vehicles, nooks and crannies in order to nip in the bud any unwholesome acts that can impede the peaceful conduct of the general elections. “In this regard, I am advising those illegally in possession of firearms to surrender them to the Police or risk the full wrath of the law as there will definitely be no hiding place for them.” Ogunsakin said he had instructed the commissioners under his jurisdiction to intensify raids on black spots, noting that he has opened dedicated phone lines, a web site and social media platform for prompt reporting of electoral cases. “We shall on our part be objective, liberal, firm and non-partisan and perform our duties in the best possible professional manner as we owe no allegiance to any political party. I want to emphasise the preparedness and readiness of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure free, fair, credible and violencefree elections as well as provide adequate security to lives and properties before, during and after the general elections,” he said. While urging the political class not to see politics as a do-or-die, the AIG disclosed that he had set up a Special Investigation Team on Electoral Offences to handle

electoral complaints and offences. He said he will “not compromise anything that will cause breach of public peace, riotous conduct or any act likely to cause a breakdown of law and order in any of the four states under my control.” Ogunsakin added: “I urge you all to learn to play politics without bitterness. If we are looking forward to govern our people, then we must eschew violence. Leadership should be by example. If you kill your own people during the electioneering, if you win, who are you going to govern?” Also speaking, the state REC, Khan stressed the need for a peaceful election. ‘The AIG has lightened my burden. I am so happy to see the candidates. We at INEC are prepared…. I am appealing to you all to come to my office so that we douse rumour and tension,” she said. Earlier, Nyesom Wike, the governorship candidate of the PDP, said his party believes in peaceful election, and would ensure that the electoral guidelines are followed. “It is clear that only one candidate will emerge victorious, and politics is not a do-or-die,” Wike said, adding that political leaders will have no one to govern if they kill all their political opponents during the campaigns. Dakuku Peterside, the governorship candidate of the APC, while stressing his party’s firm commitment for peaceful elections, lamented that nothing has been done on the recent attacks against the APC, including the attacks on its party secretariats at Okrika and Andoni councils. “One serious concern is that the last time we signed an accord, the next day our secretariat was bombed. And we complained, but nothing happened. Members of the APC have been arrested for flimsy reasons. Perhaps, this accord will be a new beginning,” he said. When the meeting ended, Peterside and Wike took photographs with the AIG, and others, while the other candidates shook hands amid smiles.

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Pastor Tunde Bakare is the Convener, Save Nigeria Group. The pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly was the guest of a live programme on Rock FM, Abeokuta where he recently spoke on his relationship with former heads of state, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Major General Muhammadu Buhari, his foray into politics and the general elections. Excerpts: In 2011, when you were picked to be the running mate to Major General Muhammadu Buhari, you first rejected the offer but later accepted to run with him on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) after much pressure. Do you have any regrets contesting that election? Number one, I wasn’t under pressure; it was after due consultation I became fully persuaded. Nobody put me on any pressure. If they put me under pressure, I would reject it instantly. I said no at the beginning but after wide consultations, I felt this man who has this much integrity as I said in the video that has gone virile now, ‘the Buhari I know’ requests me to contribute my quota; don’t let me just be the one that will be sitting on the pulpit talking, let’s go and do something meaningful. And we assembled a formidable team that if we had won would have been able to cause phenomenal change, but you know the way the election went, but I would be honest with you, no regrets at all, not for a single moment. Up till now? No regrets. I still believe Buhari is a good man. I still believe he should be given chance to run this nation. I may not endorse the people around him, not all of them but by and large if we can curtail the excesses of those who have invaded the All Progressives Congress (APC) with their ill-gotten wealth, if we can curtail that, perhaps there is opportunity, not that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is any better also. They have all dipped their hands into filthy lucre, they are helping themselves. Power in Nigeria is not for service, it’s for self. Only very few people are delivering what we call dividends of democracy. I have no regrets whatsoever, Gen. Buhari is such a good man, he is a patriot who loves his country and it was a pleasure knowing him that close and to know the kind of passion he carries for this nation. A lot of people see Buhari as a religious fanatic. Having known him closely, do you see him as a religious fanatic who is all out to Islamise Nigeria? If he is a religious fanatic, the Boko Haram will not be trying to kill him; they will not be calling him an infidel now, he was not. I

Obasanjo should keep quiet –Bakare

support us and if I go in there, three days after, I’ll step down. I said I’m willing to resign as vicepresidential candidate but not as vice president; that’s the office I’ve not occupied. I’m a trained lawyer, that’s perjury. I’m not a fraudster. Asiwaju Tinubu later told me that he was not aware I wrote a letter and I said that’s not true because it was public knowledge and I gave it to General Buhari himself. So, that actually scuttled what could have been an alliance? It wasn’t it, it couldn’t have been; it was just a smokescreen A lot of people have criticized pastors meddling into politics, with many of them endorsing and rejecting candidates. What exactly is your take on this? Are those pastors Nigerians? Yes they are. Do they have the right to vote and be voted for and to endorse a candidate or they don’t have the right to do so? Are they Nigerians? Is there anything that stops them from exercising their political will or interest? Let’s grow up, let’s mature. Imagine South Africa without Desmond Tutu, imagine Cyprus without Michael Lewis, imagine America without the dreamer boy, Martin Luther King Jnr. Don’t label everybody, not everybody has interest in partisan politics, not everyone is partisan but they are entitled to their rights. Anybody can make accurate political analysis of what is going on.

Bakare

released a video to that effect for about six to seven minutes and I made my thorough investigations. I stayed close enough, I watched and I observed that man, yes, he is a Muslim, a true Muslim, but he is not a fundamental Muslim. Number two, his personal driver of more than 12 years is a born again Christian; his personal bodyguards are Christians. In his career in the army, he never allowed the Christians to come to duty on Sundays and when Muslims said they wanted to go on Fridays he said ‘it’s not written in your own Quran, I can’t see it there.’ That’s not a fundamentalist, not in the least. Were you shocked when Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was picked as the running mate to General Buhari? What will be the shock? Somebody has to occupy the place and if I suggested him to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu four years ago when I was approached that Osinbajo or Niyi Adebayo should go, why would it shock me? Not at all. You mean, you have actually recommended him before? It’s written in my book that would be presented to the public on April 3rd called “Strategic intervention in governance”. Yes, I recommended him and I sent people to him, I sent Engr. Ife Oyedele to Osinbajo to try and persuade Asiwaju Bola Tinubu because Asiwaju was interested in the position himself; he just didn’t get it and when they couldn’t feature Muslim/Muslim ticket it’s the reason he reluctantly agreed that Osinbajo should go this time. What actually led to the botched

INDEP ELECT ENDENT NAT ORAL C IO OMMIS NAL SION

Obasanjo had the opportunity to put this country on the right path and on the right footing, but... he packaged the sick and the weak and forced it on the nation

alliance between CPC and ACN? There was no alliance; it’s a long story that I captured completely in that book to the best of my knowledge and the facts known to me. The rest can bring their own facts out if they know anything better. First and foremost, I got a text from Lai Mohammed asking me to help persuade General Buhari to run on the platform of Action Congress (AC) before it became ACN, I was going to broker that. When I found out that Asiwaju was going to be the running mate and I was not ready to broker a Muslim/Muslim ticket, we left it. Secondly, the CPC itself, some people, the Board of Trustees requested me to give them Jimi Agbaje to be the running mate of Buhari which I obliged until that didn’t work and the General had to turn to me in the last minute and the day the General called me was the day I called Tinubu, that I’m not interested. I was willing to take anyone to join Buhari to run because I’m not into partisan politics. I’m a nation-builder and I don’t want to jump on the soap box campaigning for election. My biblical heroes that are used to nation building did not contest for election. Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Nehemiah, Esther; they were all called to come and contribute their quota. I won’t spend the kind of money I see people spend on election in Nigeria and I consider it insane, I consider it crazy. I’m being honest with you. That is why they go there to steal. After I accepted to run about three four days to the election, they now came with a proposal that I should resign as vice-president of Nigeria in advance and they will

A lot of people believe that the body language of President Goodluck Jonathan supports corruption especially the corrupt elements around him or in the ruling party. How can we strengthen the war against corruption? It’s unfortunate that the president said that stealing is not corruption, whatever he meant by that he would live with it and explain it, maybe later. Corruption is not something that started yesterday, Obasanjo administration was corrupt, Cement scandals and all those things, all the budgetary allocation, for electricity, they produced less. Go back and examine Shagari regime, a regime like the regime of Buhari came because of corruption. Corruption has become a national fabric, it has become a culture. Once upon a time it was said that Nigerian officials are corrupt, today corruption is official in Nigeria because people steal with reckless abandon. You will find those who were fired from civil service now contesting for governorship election and we are hailing them as heroes. They had a track record of embezzlement. It’s horrible. In the glory years of Western Region for example, Chief Obafemi Awolowo built the tallest building in Africa, called Cocoa House, built Premier Hotel, it’s still standing there today, built Liberty Stadium, built the first television in Africa and Western Region had television before France. How many people will believe that story today? That’s foresight and yet they didn’t name these things after themselves. Even Obafemi Awolowo University was named probably just to honour his foresight when he rejected the report that University of Ibadan was enough for the Western Region CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion The Abia debt hang (1999-2015)…amid professorial naivety Ebere Wabara

he worst thing that can happen to any professor or, indeed, any man, is for him to circumstantially depend on his wife for livelihood! That, certainly, is the summit of irresponsibility. Over the past eight years or thereabouts, the Abia State government under the feeble and rudderless leadership of Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji has preoccupied itself with viral and vicious bouts of gobbledygook over the state’s debt profile between 1999 and 2007 when the former governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu was in office. It has never removed the moth in its eye all this while via public finance rendition. All manner of scurrilous statements had been issued from May 29, 2007, till date on how Dr. Kalu allegedly mismanaged and squandered the riches of the state! Nobody has bothered to pry into the increased income from statutory allocations and enhanced internally-generated revenue since the advent of the present administration. The diversionary tactic had been exclusive focus on the Kalu years and, in the process, hoodwink unsuspecting Abians and other Nigerians. The Abia Debt Hang in the past 16 years is not a subject for speculation or political jobbery as the chairman of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof. Herbert Orji, emerged from the blues and alleged that the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, plunged the state into indebtedness between 1999 and 2007 when the transnational business mogul was in office. From my modest knowledge, the hallmark of professionalism and professorship is objectivity. If Prof. Orji had been dispassionate in his assessment of the Kalu years, no eyebrows would have been raised, but when he decides to contemporaneously lavish encomiums on the acclaimed worst governor in the world then there is more than meets the eye. With such laudatory indiscretion, he gave himself up as a hatchet man on a pecuniary mission! By virtue of his standing today as NBC chairman and member of the NSE, Prof. Orji should not have condescended so low no matter the trappings and recompense for such a dirty and fatalistic job! Before now, I had thought that only newspaper cub-reporters indulge in unprofessionalism, charlatanism and occupational deviancies on grounds of institutional and individual poverty—not investment bankers, chairmen of government agencies and council members of the stock exchange! It is akin to my being a media ombudsman and taking sides with a publication in my evaluative critique in anticipation of “settlement”— if not already mobilized! It is quite demeaning and speaks volumes of the erosion of values in our society where everything is now denominated and all of us having a price! It will never be well with professorial and governmental corruption, including individual improprieties! This is the opportune time for Dr. Alex Otti, the immediate-past CEO/MD of Diamond Bank PLC and governor-

ship candidate in Abia State on the APGA platform, to reveal to Nigerians the level of loans the Gov. Orji government has accessed in the bank in the past seven-and-half years—and possibly avail us with similar data from other banks. There is no privacy with public funds. The failure of Dr. Otti to do this will be symptomatic of our collective docility on matters that affect our existentialism. I will not disclose the figures at my disposal lest I am accused of partisanship because of my involvement in the restoration of God’s Own State. This is why I had expected Prof. Orji to focus on the redemption and renaissance of the state instead of fiddling with imaginary figures and playing to the mercantilist gallery. I do not know why the T. A. Orji-led administration should waste resources on sponsored, frivolous and malicious allegations about the state’s finances before the inception of this tepid government. All the state needs to do is to write to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Allocation Committee (FAC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on revenue inflow to Abia State between 1999 and 2015 and get the feedback published in major national dailies (excluding The Sun, which has been erroneously classified as an “enemy newspaper” by Umuahia)! You do not need The Patriots, a few famished Abia elders and other nondescript elements to misinform people on a critical matter as this. It is also not a subject for political witch-hunt or demonization of benefactors who have inexplicably become foes. This matter does not require any complication or media blitz. If Dr. Kalu borrowed monies from 22 banks as alleged by the professor who could not manage the defunct medium-sized Progress Bank, can we have a list of the banks, the borrowings and their status as at May 28, 2007? Can we equally have the so-called 22 banks authenticate such information and the findings made public? In the same breath, can we also have the same classification beginning from May 29, 2007, till date? This will give a lucid picture of who borrowed what and the level of redemption/outstanding? It is a very simple task that does not require hungry hangers-on granting duplicitous interviews to justify their monthly stipends from Government House, Umuahia! If, as Dr. Kalu insists vehemently, he did not leave any debt and has publicly made such avowals, the only way to put the records straight is to have his accounts and those of his successor audited. Thereafter, we shall then know who has been lying and who has been telling us the truth. The rabid buck-passing cannot get to the root of the matter, especially now that another puppet-governor is in the making! I had expected Prof. Orji and his co-travellers to do a comparative financial analysis of the Kalu years and the currency of their obvious sponsor: giving the public information on all statutory accruals and IGRs for both men’s tenures, their confirmed debt profiles (local and external), authenticated investment schedules and all other allied issues connected with public income and expenditure that should be verifiable. For each of these, there are federal and global agencies that are very ready to volunteer information if formally approached, In other words, there

is no need for any professorial interjection in a case that is within basic bureaucracy. The political jesters in Umuahia and their messengers should be conscious of the fact that accountability, transparency and integrity are not issues for political gimmickry, but fundamentals of democracy, good governance and the hallmarks of personal and group credibility. They are not items for salacious media tomfoolery. If Prof. Orji were so fantastic in audit matters, why was his fleeting employment in demised Progress Bank not celebrated? And what culminated in the bank’s extinction? Equity is everything and self-dignity a treasure in the public sphere and marketplace. Nobody should on account of political patronage or rehabilitative exigencies lose the tangential respect he has. When Prof. Orji declares glibly that Dr. Kalu took facilities from 22 banks and never redeemed them, it sounds like the tantrums of a motor-park investment analyst! Are those banks he referred to dead like Progress Bank? Can he get them to publish Dr. Kalu’s alleged indebtedness and also ask First Bank, Diamond Bank, Skye Bank and Access Bank to give us the debit profiles of his mentor, Gov. Orji. For purpose of clarification the “22 banks are still functional and could be compelled to publish the records so that we know who the serial liar is between the Orjis. Prof. Orji is among those misleading Gov. Orji and deluding him on performance. Is this professor aware that all through the eight years of Dr. Kalu’s governorship, less than N90 billion accrued to the state, while in less than eight years Gov, has spent N1.9 trillion naira on propaganda, abduction of this writer, deception and falsehood? There is no basis to compare Dr. Kalu and Gov. Orji on issues pertaining to public finance management because the former governor represents light while his anointed successor symbolizes blackout. If anyone doubts this, let the governor go to Aba without security details today and let us see the outcome! For Dr. Kalu, it would be a carnival. Obviously, the concoction of Orji is the manifestation of a man under famished trance. The NBC chairman must have been afflicted by schizophrenia when he made an allegation that could easily be verified in the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A man who claims professorial attainment should not operate in the realm of speculation, which is antithetical to scholastic candour. Dr. Kalu has consistently asked for an independent and forensic audit of the accounts and statement of his tenure as Abia State governor from 1999 to 2007. He has also copiously written about his stewardship generally and financial management particularly during the period he functioned as governor. It is astonishing that a man who could not administer the defunct third-tier Progress Bank should be pointing the finger at a respected and distinguished Nigerian icon who does not depend on his wife for survival as his accuser does, having been floundering over the years. •Wabara (ewabara@yahoo.com/08055001948) is the media adviser to Dr. Kalu.

Ambode’s unfinished retirement matter Gbade Ajibowu

he news in the Nigerian Pulse of February 10 should bother all the citizens of Lagos state as they choose their governor in the April 11 governorship elections in the state. The news is that Akinwunmi Ambode, APC governorship candidate in the state did not retire voluntarily at the age of 49 as claimed by his media aides but was forced to be Accountant General of the state. Indeed he was to be sacked by the State governor Raji Fashola before the state godfather Bola Tinubu intervened and the sack was converted to retirement. This is what Ambode is using falsely to flaunt his honesty and integrity in the ongoing governorship campaign in the state . The Nigerian Pulse revealed that for

some strange reason the state former governor went on to use that incident to earmark Ambode as Fashola’s successor, a situation that is on course given the emergence of Ambode from nowhere in Lagos politics as the anointed candidate of the APC in the state. This could also explain the initial reluctance of the state governor to join the APC Ambode Campaign team voluntarily. It should also explain why the governor chose his own successor in Dapo Shashore a SAN like him who was roundly beaten and humiliated by the Tinubu electoral apparatus at the APC state election primaries. Tinubu went on to make Ambode the successor to Fashola to make his handpicked present governor know who is the master in the state. It is necessary for the peace loving people of Lagos State to know how Akin Ambode retired or was retired from the

Lagos state as Accoutanant General of the state. Either himself or the boss said to have prepared his sack letter should throw more light on the matter. Lagos State does not deserve a governor who was sacked as Accountant General of the state. Neither does the State of Aquatic splendour deserve as governor someone funny enough to shield information from his boss and pass such information to an outsider at the level of Accountant General who should know the sanctity of confidentiality on such matters. Again the opportunity presents itself for Lagosians to rescue themselves from the hands of the APC gluttons in power and the fraudulent way they have been seizing and manipulating democratic power in the state for their selfish gains and to line their pockets at the expense of the teeming masses in the state. Jimi Agbaje, the PDP gov-

ernorship candidate in the state is the face of the much needed change Lagos needs in Alausa to bring sanity to the state. Agbaje is a well known politician not tainted with fraud and false claims on retirement and hidden accounts. It certainly cannot be business as usual for the powerful and mortally wounded Tinubu succession machinery in the state in this election for governor in Lagos State. The hand writing is on the wall on this Ambode retirement cover up. Again the odds are in favour of Jimi Agbaje as our next governor in Lagos state under the banner of the PDP. This is because compared with Ambode the APC candidate, Agbaje is sparkling clean breath of fresh air and sanitiser for Alausa as the next Lagos State governor. • Ajibowu, a public commentator, writes from Lagos

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

EDITORIAL

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

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

A media partner of

Sanctity of Truth

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

Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

The multi-national force to fight insurgency

ive years after the Boko Haram insurgency broke out in the north-eastern part of Nigeria and in territories along her common borders with the Republics of Cameroun and Chad, the African Union has finally sanctioned the establishment of a multi-national African force to help Africa’s most populous nation quell the insurgency menace that has led to the death of at least 5000 people and several other properties destroyed. According to the Boko Haram, the group is inspired by an unrealistic and unattainable determination to abolish secularism which is enshrined in the country’s constitution; establish not only an Islamic caliphate in the country but to also compel every Nigerian, regardless of tribe or creed, to subscribe to the overly-unstable suzereignty of the insurgents who hide under islam to commit a panoram a of tear-jerking atrocities which mainstream muslims roundly condemn. Since the insurgency began in 2009, thousands of innocent citizens have been needlessly killed while countless others have either been rendered widows, orphans or refugees in their own country. The extent of collateral damage inflicted by the insurgency is huge and

monstrous as could be deciphered from the jeremiad from the Northern Zone of the Manufacturers Association (MAN), that the economy of the region has been effectively lost to the mindless insurgency. The declaration of interest by about 17 countries to sign up for the fight against Boko Haram is reassuring and a necessary reminder that maybe the rest of the continent might not have forgotten the huge resources that Nigeria has so far expended on countlessly brilliant peace-keeping missions in and outside the continent which this country has always been her tradition. According to the Ghanaian president, Mr John Mahama, Boko Haram is not only the most serious security concern of Nigeria but like their Al-Shabaab counterparts in East Africa, they also pose a wider risk to others elsewhere, including Mali, Kenya and Somalia which has since been robbed of any stability for the past 25 years. ‘Terrorism is like a cancer and if we do not deal with it, it keep going. It threatens everybody in the sub-region. When it comes to terrorism, nobody is too far away or too near’, Mahama said. Apart from those killed in the insurgency and the aggregate damage to physical property,

the quantum of loss suffered by Nigeria on account of this insurgency is so huge that it can not be over-emphasized. The latest consequence of the insurgency is the controversial postponement of certain categories of the general elections, allegedly because security could not be guaranteed in the north-eastern corridor of the country for the much-awaited exercise to hold. Already, Mali has announced the donation of about 750 soldiers to the multi-national force, just as Cameroun and Chad which have both indicated their readiness in the exercise to rid the sub-region of the vermin of religious fundamentalism which has created an upheaval in the Middle East. Although details of the force still remain sketchy, it is expected that issues concerning the command structure, financing and headquarters of the proposed will soon be worked out to give the initiative maximum bite. According to the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Haliru Mohammed, the country is acquiring new boats, helicopters and fixing ageing fighter jets in the new strategy to re-position the military for what is generally regarded as a decisive phase of the anti-terror war. He said that training and retraining of personnel is another

critical ingredient in the war which has acquired continental momentum. The continental initiative to reinvent the anti-terror war is reassurance from the international community that reciprocity is afterall a cornerstone of diplomacy. The involvement of other countries in a purely domestic affair of Nigeria does not amount to indictment for the military as some have suggested. Rather, the decision of other African countries to voluntarily come to the assistance of Nigeria in her moment of need should provide the military high command with the requisite opportunity to re-appraise strategy and reinvent courage to deal with the insurgents decisively, instead of engaging in confidence-killing retreats from the enemy into Cameroun, allegedly in the name of tactical withdrawals. The enormity of the challenge posed by insurgency to Nigeria is huge. This is not the time to dwell on sentimentalities like national pride. The enormity of the insurgency challenge became complicated when American soldiers refused to share intelligence with their Nigerian counterparts from fear that sabotage has eaten far too deep into the military, enough to generate distrust and suspicion.

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

Eric Osagie

Editor n Yemi Ajayi

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editor n Emeka Obasi

Deputy Editor n Ayodele Ojo Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

Ag. Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi

News Editor n Geoffrey Ekenna

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed

Sales/Circulation Manager n Oyebanji Abiodun

Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

Politics

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Bakare: I recommended Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

and he funded it from his internally generated revenue; he funded the University of Ife one of the frontline universities still in Nigeria today. We are looking at governors now; they take pride in owning their private airlines, private television stations, private hotels and they call themselves rich at whose expense? How much were they worth before, where did they get the money from? From the treasury! So, don’t put it on Jonathan alone, put it on the generality of Nige-

rians, put it on you and put it on me that we will not reject such things when we are offered. So, we have to re-orientate an entire nation, change our value system and begin to restore that. Maybe what happened in Ghana, we have not learnt any lesson from it, when Jerry Rawlings lined up former heads of state and shot them in one day. If you do that in Nigeria, it will lead to sectional war again because if one side of the people are shot and another side is not shot that person will come with

reprisals. You saw how the people responded to Gen. T. Y. Danjuma, when he spoke, they began to call him names, call him a murderer, he killed this, he killed that and all of that. What happened when the Igbo military officers killed the Northerners and some of the Yoruba leaders in the first coup. Corruption is a common monster, it would take the whole nation to come to our senses and say this is not in our interest. We have to begin to implement our laws because we have laws but we don’t

have sanctions. How many of these people have we not just given a back hand and just massage their ego, keep them in five-star hospitals and took part of their loot and tell them to take the rest away. How do you see the persistent criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo? I don’t know, because, I saw him bowing down to the same Jonathan at his daughter’s wedding and shaking hands with him. I don’t know whether he

fights in the daytime and goes back to beg, in the night time. But I think he should just keep quiet as an elder statesman and contribute his own quota in a more dignified manner because, he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones. They too have issues on him, that they can use to ridicule him and some of it had come out already. Somebody wrote another book “watching the watcher,” catalogues of his excesses and his own shortcomings are there too. President Obasanjo

more than any other Nigerian had the opportunity to put this country on the right path and on the right footing but for reasons best known to him, he packaged the sick and the weak and forced it on the nation when he could not get his third term agenda. That’s my own opinion of him and the earlier he keeps quiet and write his memoirs, or takes care of his chickens and not let his children further disgrace him. Do you have any personal issues with him? Never, why should I? What will be the personal issue? Have your paths ever crossed? We met twice before, oh! Three times now, when President Kenneth Kaunda came to Nigeria to his Ota Leadership Forum to speak and Kenneth Kaunda insisted he wants to see me. Our paths crossed in England and I gave him some prophetic words that came to pass. So, when he came to Nigeria, he said “there is a man of God here, I’ll like to meet him” and General Obasanjo as he then was, called my phone and he said “may I speak with Reverend Bakare” and I said “there is no Reverend Bakare here who is on the line and I don’t go by the name Reverend” and he said “Olusegun Obasanjo” I said “the General”, he said “ there is no General here” so I went and I saw him for the first time. The second time, it was at a book launch where I was chairman; I presented a book for Doctor Wilson Badejo, the former General Overseer of the Foursquare Church, at the Institute of International Affairs, at Victoria Island, Lagos. The third time was at the Ogun State carols where more or less I was pleaded with to greet him. I have prayed for him a number times. A time was when he was in crises, I paid some of his children’s school fees. That is the truth and I know some of the pastors we sent to him while in prison, so that God should bring him out. But he should just keep quiet and spend his retirement in peace and not drag himself into shameful interruptions, indiscipline. There was a time between him and IBB, they were calling themselves fools and idiots. That’s unbecoming and I blame Nigerians for allowing fools and idiots to preside over their affairs. So, they have themselves to blame. I think we should choose wisely in future.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Insurance

‘CBN bans dollar resale to boost naira’

Stock Watch

PZ Cussons: Economy takes toll

NAICOM unveils new rule on offshore licence

Money Line

Interview

Govt has not impacted manufacturing –Multi-Trex boss

42-43

Business What's news

Polls: Nigeria’s FDI drops to $4.9bn For the third consecutive year, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into Nigeria have dropped by 17.9 per cent in 2014, from $5.17 billion to $4.9 billion, owing to the tension, which the uncertainty in the country’s political space has created for foreign investors.

NIMASA cadets ejected from classes in The Philippine over fees CAPACITY BUILDING Agency spends N20 billion in two years on capacity building

vealed that the school authorities informed NIMASA of the development and advised that the students’ feeding allowance

be increased. However, the source alleged that the agency initially slashed the allowance by 80 per

cent until it stopped both the payment of the allowance and CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Bayo Akomolafe

p.22

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

he Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)’s cadets have been kicked out of schools over non-payment of school fees in The Philippines’ varsities, New Telegraph has learnt. The trainees were among those on scholarship under the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP). They were given scholarships to study naval architecture, marine engineering and nautical sciences at the University of Cebu and Lyceum University. It was learnt that 58 of them were at the UPHS, 350 in Cebu while about the same number are schooling at Lyceum University. Between 2012 and 2014, the agency spent N20 billion to train about 2,500 cadets in various maritime institutions in Egypt, United Kingdom and The Philippines. However, recent development revealed that the agency has shirked in its responsibility to remit the cadets’ fees and their feeding allowances to the various universities and the students respectively. A source at the agency alleged that trouble started when some of the students were initially relocated to another university following a weather forecast that there might likely be an outbreak of typhoon in the region. Consequently, the source re-

Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Con-Edge Enterprises Solutions Ltd, Joel Osebor; Chief Executive Officer of Knight & Bishop Consultancy Limited, Mrs. Mope Abudu and Marketing Manager, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Bennett Frimpong, at a Small and Medium Enterprises training programme by Stanbic IBTC Bank in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Wole Shadare

he proposed additional 13 airfield lightings by the Federal Government in some of the airports across the country is expected to cost over N18 billion, New Telegraph has learnt. This would enable airlines operate to the aerodromes at night. Experts who spoke with our correspondent, said that the cost of the project, which is dollar-denominated, could be higher given the fact that the

13 airports airfield lightings to gulp N18bn Airlines to save N8bn yearly value of the naira has been falling consistently in resent time. Another reason they gave for the anticipated spiraling cost of the project is because the length and width of the runways across the country

are not the same. While some are over 2.7 kilometres in length, others are between 2.5 and three kilometres long. Many of Nigeria’s airports CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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

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

EXCHANGE RATE (Parallel as at Feb. 13)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N213 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N315 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N337

l Foreign Reserves – $32.237bn as at 12/02/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official as at Feb. 13)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N169 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N258.77 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N191.59

Business | News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Polls: Nigeria’s FDI drops to $4.9bn EXPORT NOSEDIVES Oil and other export revenues fall to $78.2bn

Adeola Yusuf

or the third consecutive year, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into Nigeria have dropped by 17.9 per cent in 2014, from $5.17 billion to $4.9 billion, owing to the tension, which the uncertainty in the country’s political space has created for foreign investors. Also, revenue from exports of oil and other commodities fell to $78.2 billion during the period under review. The Managing Director, Financial Derivative Company (FDC), Mr. Bismark Rewane, disclosed these in his February Monthly Economic News and Views, presented at the Lagos Business School Executive Breakfast Meeting. He said that no major change is expected until after elections. In the report entitled: “Nigeria at crossroads, stability or change – Which do you prefer?” Rewane listed factors responsible for the revenue shortfall to include the forthcoming elections, lower oil prices and the devaluation of naira. “Exports are down 12.3 per cent to $78.2 billion, imports sticky at $50.7 billion, revenue down 45 per cent, while reserves also down 20.85 per cent,” he said. Stating that the recent

oil price plunge has put the industry in despair, the expert added that exploration for oil has fallen tremendously. He said: “Oil rigs are idle now 352 in past eight weeks. BP to reduce spending to $20 billion this year compared to $26 billion previously planned. “Lower oil prices boosted consumer spending, government spending slowed by 7.5 per cent, stronger dollar estimated to have lowered growth by a whole percentage point. Export growth slowed to 2.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent in third quarter of 2014,” he said. According to Rewane, import growth “surged to 8.9 per cent from-0.9 per cent in the third quarter. Contrary to $704 billion (four per cent growth) in developing economies. The FPI inflows in Q2’14 slowed to $3.9 billion compared to $6.5 billion in Q2’13. FPI inflows in H1’14 were less than Q2’13.” The story is, however, different at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), according the FDC report. “Foreign inflows on the NSE between January and November 2014 increased to $3.9 billion from $3.14 billion. Total foreign outflows in the first 11 months totalled $4.99 billion, up from $2.98 billion in the corresponding period of 2013. Reflecting a sell off,” the report read. On the political uncertainty, Rewane said: “Independent of who wins the presidential election, the aftermath will be marked by considerable uncertainty and unrest through March.”

NIMASA cadets ejected from classes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

tuitions. The source revealed that some of the students are now doing casual jobs to sustain themselves, explaining that some of them had been devastated by hunger and frustration. When contacted last Thursday over these allegations through an e-mail, the agency’s Deputy Director, Public Relations, Mr Isichie Osamgbi, failed to respond. The total number of beneficiaries of the programme sent to Europe, Egypt and The Philippines in the last two years is slightly over 2,500, with the agency planning to increase the

figure to 10,000 by year 2020. The Philippines contributes 20 per cent of the global seafarers and has about 90 maritime institutes. The country, also graduates about 40,000 seafarers annually. But efforts to develop the only maritime institution, Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State, to global standard have not yielded positive results. Also, the newly established Nigeria Maritime University’s admission for 2014/15 academic sessions is five months backward to the take-off date. The school was sited at Okerenkoko in Delta State by NIMASA.

L-R: Representative of the Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB), Miss. Simisola Abass; Representative of Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mrs. Nwosu Esther; and Miss. Yetunde Kotoye of Retail Proposition, Sterling Bank Plc, at the third Sterling Gunners Promo Draw held at the weekend in Lagos

Airports airfield lightings to cost N18bn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

do not operate on 24-hour basis because they lack this important aviation safety tool. The Lagos airport runway used by local airlines is yet to have runway lightings, which spans 2.7 kilomteres. It has been without a runway light for a fairly long time after the airstrip was resurfaced many years ago. Just two years ago, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) installed solar-powered lightings for the Lagos airport runway. A former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, had said it would cost the country over N1.5 billion, stressing that it had been budgeted for in the 2014 budget. Meanwhile, airlines are expected to save over N8 billion annually when all the airfield lightings become fully operational. The Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, gave the assurance for the airfield lighting recently. He said that the Federal Government plans to install airfield lightings in additional 13 airports before the end of May this year as part of its Aviation Commits Initiative. Chidoka, however, did not disclose how much the project would cost, but experts told New Telegraph that it would cost over N18 billion to provide the facilities. A former Director of Operations, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Obi Anadu, said it would be very difficult to give accu-

rate cost of the project. Anadu, an engineer, said the costs depends on the length of the airstrips and the exchange rate of the naira, adding that the cost of having runway lighting on a three kilometre runway will be different from one that is just two kilometres in length and width. He also explained that it also depends on the category of the airfield lighting that government wants to acquire, adding that there are category one, two or three airfield lighting that could be installed depending on the thinking of government. The expert said that when these are taken into consideration, it could cost several billions of naira to have them installed in 13 airports. Inadequate airfield lightings had been part of the reasons why Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) in the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) threatened to shut down the nation’s airspace recently. Only a few airports in the country have lighting facilities for night operations, making the airlines to lose billions of naira yearly. But with the proposed installation of the airfield lighting facilities, the airlines would be able to operate to some airports beyond the usual 7p.m., which is the close of visual operations for the operators. Already, about seven airports, including the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, Port Harcourt International Airport, (PHIA),

Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport (NAA), Abuja, among others, have visual and night operation facilities. With these, several airlines, such as Med-View, Dana, Arik and Aero Contractors would be able to operate their aircraft to all the airports in the country till late in the night. Our correspondent gathered that contractors of the equipment had already supplied the facilities to the government and are now awaiting installations in most of the airports. The airlines before now had decried poor, inadequate or non-existent airfield lightings at some Nigerian airports, a situation they said made them to lose several millions of naira daily. Experts in the sector say that aircraft are meant to be in the air and operate for about 16 hours daily and not the less than 10 hours services they render in Nigeria. On installation, the airlines would be able to operate till late at night, earn more revenue while the regulatory agencies in the industry, including (NAMA), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the FAAN, will earn more revenue from aeronautical passengers’ service charge. Chidoka said with these, aircraft would be optimally used by their owners. Just recently, the Senate ordered FAAN to ensure that all airfield lightings in all the major airports in the country work optimally.

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

In collaboration with

Sanctity of Truth

THE COSTS OF CHEAPER OIL Subsidies End Around The Globe As Price Falls By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

In Saudi Arabia, drivers pay roughly 12 cents a liter to fill up their cars, and in Venezuela even less. Energy is so inexpensive in Kuwait and Qatar that residents chill their enormous swimming pools in the summer and typically leave their air-conditioners on at full blast while they are away on vacation. Across the Middle East and much of the developing world, government subsidies make energy cheap and encourage consumption. But governments are beginning to take advantage of plummeting oil and natural gas prices by slashing the subsidies. The cuts are just a small fraction of the global total of annual subsidies, but energy experts say they are beginning to add up. The price of oil is down nearly 50 percent from its peak last year of just over $110 a barrel. On January 1, the Indonesian government abandoned a four-decade-old policy of subsidizing gasoline, permitting prices at the pump to rise and fall with global oil prices. As long as oil is cheap, Indonesians will not see much of a difference. Since October, India has stopped subsidizing diesel and raised fuel taxes. Malaysia cut subsidies on gasoline and diesel late last year. Angola, a major African producer, raised gasoline and diesel prices 20 percent in December. Ghana has also acted to remove subsidies, and Nigeria is expected to follow suit after its national elections. Iran cut gasoline subsidies early last year. “Many of the big producers have no choice but to raise domestic energy prices,” said Jim Krane, a Middle East energy expert at Rice University in Houston, Texas. “This includes prices on fuel, but also electricity and water, since most water in the region is desalinated by burning fossil fuels. Now, with less revenue coming in, the oil-exporting regimes have a stronger fiscal incentive to do this.” Such subsidies amount to more than $540 billion a year worldwide, and for decades they have been used as a crutch by governments to buy political support and lend a crude, but flawed, safety net to the poor,

Continued on Page 26

MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Troops patrol lines of people waiting in Caracas to buy basic items like vegetable oil and corn flour at subsidized prices.

Shortages of Food and Drugs in Venezuela By WILLIAM NEUMAN

CAR ACAS, Venezuela — Mary Noriega heard there would be chicken. She hated being herded “like cattle,” she said, standing for hours in a line of more than 1,500 people hoping to buy food, as soldiers with side arms checked identification cards to make sure no one tried to buy basic items more than once or twice a week. But Ms. Noriega, a laboratory assistant with three children, said she had no choice. Things had gotten so bad, she said, that she had begun bartering with neighbors to put food on the table. “We always knew that this

year would start badly, but I think this is super bad,” Ms. Noriega said. Venezuelans have put up with shortages and long lines for years. But as the price of oil, the country’s main export, has plunged, the situation has grown so dire that the government has sent troops to patrol huge lines snaking for blocks. Some states have barred people from waiting outside stores overnight, and government officials are posted near entrances, ready to arrest shoppers who cheat the rationing system. Venezuela is dependent on oil sales to buy imports of food, medicine and other basics, so

the drop in oil prices means that there is even less hard currency to buy what the country needs. But even before oil prices tumbled, the country was in the throes of a deep recession, with one of the world’s highest inflation rates and chronic shortages of basic items. The shortages and inflation present another round of political challenges for President Nicolás Maduro, who has vowed to continue the Socialist-inspired revolution begun by his predecessor, the charismatic leftist Hugo Chávez. Venezuela has the world’s largest estimated petroleum reserves. When oil prices were high, oil exports made up more

than 95 percent of its hard currency income. Mr. Chávez used the oil riches to fund social spending, like increased pensions and subsidized grocery stores. Now that income has been slashed. “I’ve always been a Chavista,” said Ms. Noriega, using a term for a loyal Chávez supporter. But “the other day, I found a Chávez T-shirt I’d kept, and I threw it on the ground and stamped on it, and then I used it to clean the floor. I was so angry.” One of the nation’s most prestigious public hospitals shut down its heart surgery

Continued on Page 27

Russia Tries to Outlast the Gloom By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

SERGEI KARPUKHIN/REUTERS

A steep decline in oil prices is a threat to Russia. A drilling site in Bashkortostan.

MOSCOW — With oil prices down more than 50 percent in the past year, the ruble having lost more than half its value, a recession looming and the country already dipping into its reserve funds, the Russian economy is in a race against time. But one would be hard pressed to grasp the depth of the troubles from the Kremlin’s prescriptions. The “anti-crisis” package recently laid out by Anton Siluanov, the finance minister, was a laundry list of half-measures

and a vague promise of a 10 percent budget cut that economists almost unanimously dismissed as inadequate. “That plan is nonsense,” the Russian oligarch Aleksandr Y. Lebedev said, describing it as throwing away money to rescue some of Russia’s worst companies. “Lots of words and little specific.” President Vladimir V. Putin weighed in briefly, repeating that along with keeping tight control over government finances,

Continued on Page 27

INTELLIGENCE

MONEY & BUSINESS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ARTS & DESIGN

The truth of dealing with Russia. PAGE 24

Yachts help revive old shipyard port. PAGE 29

Wrangling deer to save a migration. PAGE 31

Björk’s heartbreak, as an album. PAGE 34

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

O P I N I O N & C O M M E N TA RY

ED I T O R I A L S O F T H E T I M ES

Rage Against ISIS Is Spreading Terrorism has long had a gruesome role in conflicts, often among revolutionary groups so fanatically certain of their ends that they readily justify the most barbaric of means. But it can also turn with a vengeance against those who inflict it, as the Islamic State is learning with its murdering of a Jordanian air force pilot by burning him alive. The video of the killing was meant to dissuade Arabs from participating in the Western coalition against the group; instead, it has succeeded in fostering rage and revulsion against the jihadists throughout the Arab world.

The Islamic State, the group also known as ISIS or ISIL, or “Daesh” among Arabs, has achieved a low in the annals of terrorism through its use of the Internet to post videos and images of executions, most by beheading, of bound, kneeling hostages — including, lately, two Japanese men. Although ISIS has inflicted death and inhumane torture on Arabs in its areas of operation in Syria and Iraq, feelings toward the group within various parts of the Arab world had been mixed, with many Arabs professing either indifference or varying degrees of sympathy for the jihad-

ists. Jordan, a strong ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS, was also the largest source of recruits for the group. That changed after ISIS posted a video on February 3 of the captured Jordanian pilot, First Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasasbeh, being burned alive in a cage. The killing had apparently taken place in early January, though ISIS cynically continued proposing to swap him for prisoners in Jordan until negotiations broke down after Jordan demanded proof that the pilot was alive. The Middle East erupted in fury at the video of the execution.

The Islamic prohibition against immolation may have been a factor in the outpouring of anger among Arabs. King Abdullah II of Jordan promptly ordered the execution of two jihadists already sentenced to death in Jordan, and was welcomed by cheering crowds on his return from a visit to Washington. On February 5, Jordanian planes responded by bombing Islamic State targets. Leaders in other nations condemned the murder of the pilot, and a grand imam in Cairo called for ISIS leaders themselves to face medieval-style executions.

While Lieutenant Kasasbeh was still alive, or thought to be alive, many Jordanians, including his father, questioned their country’s participation in the campaign against ISIS. Now, ISIS faces potent censure and opposition from people across the region, and even among many who tolerated or ignored its past atrocities. If the outrage on display in the Middle East translates into a broader fight against barbaric jihadism, and a deeper commitment to eradicating it, Lieutenant Kasasbeh’s cruel death may prove not to have been in vain.

INTELLIGENCE/ROGER COHEN

Western Illusions Over Ukraine Munich The most difficult thing for a communist, it has been observed, is to predict the past. I was reminded of this as I listened to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in full Soviet mode at the Munich Security Conference, suggesting that after World War II it was “the Soviet Union that was against splitting Germany.” People laughed; they guffawed. Germans recall the Soviet clamp on the east of the country and the Berlin Wall. But in a way Lavrov was right: The Soviet Union would have been quite happy to swallow all of Germany, given the chance. In similar fashion, President Vladimir Putin’s Russia would be quite happy to absorb all of Ukraine, which it views as an extension of the motherland, deluded by the West into imagining independent statehood. Lavrov’s performance here reflected the alternate universe in which the Russian spaceship has docked almost a quarter-century after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia’s annexation of Crimea was, he insisted, a popular uprising, the people “invoking the right of self-determination” as per the United Nations Charter. Ukrainians were engaged in an Send comments to intelligence@nytimes.com.

orgy of “nationalistic violence” characterized by ethnic purges directed against Jews and Russians. The United States was driven by an insatiable desire for global dominance and, in Ukraine, had orchestrated the “coup d’état” last year that led to the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. Europe post-1989 had turned its back on building “the common European house,” declining the prospect of a “free economic zone” from Lisbon to Vladivostok in favor of the expansion of NATO eastward to the doorstep of mother Russia. Dream on, Sergei. In fact, the Russian annexation of Crimea tore up by forceful means “the territorial integrity” and “political independence” of Ukraine, in direct violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter. It also shredded Russia’s formal commitment under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 to respect Ukraine’s international borders. The “nationalistic violence” that has again raised issues of war and peace in Europe stems not from Kiev but from Moscow, where Putin has cultivated a preposterous fable of encirclement, humiliation and Western depredation to generate hysteria and buttress Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. Similarly, the fascism that Lavrov tries to locate in Ukraine through allusions to attacks

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY NANCY LEE Executive editor TOM BRADY Editor ALAN MATTINGLY Managing editor The New York Times International Weekly 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: nytweekly@nytimes.com SALES AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: nytweeklysales@nytimes.com

DOMINIQUE FAGET/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Ukraine gave up its arsenal of 1,800 nuclear warheads in 1994 so Russia would agree to respect its sovereignty and its borders. A destroyed Ukrainian Army vehicle. against Jews and other ethnic groups can in fact be far more persuasively identified back home. Putin has reminded humankind that the idiom fascism knows best is untruth so grotesque it begets unreason. The Russian leader has invoked history the better to turn it into farce. He has persevered in the nonsense that all the Russian forces and matériel in eastern Ukraine are figments of the world’s imagination. Lavrov’s “coup” in Ukraine was nothing of the sort: It was a popular uprising against a corrupt Russian puppet strongarmed into turning his country away from closer association with the West. Ukrainians find the allure of Warsaw or Berlin greater than that of sunny Minsk. When they hear “common European house” they translate it as “Soviet imperium.” Two plus two equals five was a Soviet slogan. It was deployed in 1931 in support of the notion that Stalin’s five-year plan could be completed in four. Two plus two

equals five is still the “truth” emanating from Moscow. This is worth recalling in all negotiations over Ukraine. There was much talk here of a possible Franco-German engineered ceasefire; of there being “no military solution” to the Ukrainian conflict; of the advisability for the West of sending weapons to sup-

Antitank missiles might change Putin’s risk analysis. port the Ukrainian government (Chancellor Angela Merkel is opposed); and of the need to be resolute, at least in word. It’s time to get real over Putin. He has not poured tanks and multiple-launch rocket systems over the Ukrainian border because he is about to settle for anything less than a weak Ukraine, sapped by

low-level conflict in the Donetsk region, a country with its very own pro-Russian enclave à la Abkhazia or Transnistria, firmly within the Russian sphere of influence: the symbol of his definitive strategic turn away from the West toward the confrontation that shores him up as oil prices and the currency plunge. He will not let Ukraine go. There is a language Moscow understands: antitank missiles, battlefield radars, reconnaissance drones. Bolster the Ukrainian Army with them and other arms. Change Putin’s cost-benefit analysis. There are risks, but no policy is risk-free. Recall that Ukraine gave up more than 1,800 nuclear warheads in exchange for that bogus commitment from Russia back in 1994 to respect its sovereignty and borders. Surely it has thereby earned the right to something more than night-vision goggles. The West’s current Ukraine diplomacy is long on illusion and short on realism. Two plus two equals four, in war and peace.

THE NEW YORK TIMES IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE FOLLOWING NEWSPAPERS: CLARÍN, ARGENTINA n DER STANDARD, AUSTRIA n LA RAZÓN, BOLIVIA n A TARDE, FOLHA, GAZETA DO POVO, JORNAL O POVO AND O LIBERAL, BRAZIL n GUELPH MERCURY, THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, TORONTO STAR AND WATERLOO REGION RECORD, CANADA n LA SEGUNDA, CHILE n EL ESPECTADOR, COLOMBIA n LISTIN DIARIO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC n SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, GERMANY n PRENSA LIBRE, GUATEMALA n LA REPUBBLICA, ITALY n ASAHI SHIMBUN, JAPAN n DIARIO DE YUCATÁN, EL NORTE, EXPRESO, MURAL, NOVEDADES DE TABASCO, REFORMA AND SÍNTESIS, MEXICO n EL DIARIO, MEXICO AND UNITED STATES n EL NUEVO DIARIO, NICARAGUA n NEW TELEGRAPH, NIGERIA n CORREO, PERU n MANILA BULLETIN, PHILIPPINES n TODAY, SINGAPORE n EL PAÍS, SPAIN n UNITED DAILY NEWS, TAIWAN n THE OBSERVER, UNITED KINGDOM n THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, UNITED STATES

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Sanctity of Truth

WORLD TRENDS

In Greece, Hiring Untrained ‘Nurses’ By DANNY HAKIM

ATHENS — Fotini Katsigianni wears a white nurse’s hat. She is head nurse at Evangelismos Hospital, one of the city’s most prominent. So she was surprised last month when she was approached by a man in the hospital. At the time, Ms. Katsigianni’s husband was a patient there. The strange man extended an arm with a business card and averted his face, so she could not identify him. He offered to rent her a cut-rate nurse. “He told me for 30 euros I could have whatever I want!” Ms. Katsigianni said, laughing at the idea of trying to sell illegal nursing care to the head nurse. First the men come to the hospitals of Greece during visiting hours, leaving business cards. Then the women come at night, mostly foreigners from countries like Georgia, Romania and Bulgaria. They are the

Where patients can’t afford to pay licensed caregivers. nurses of Greece who aren’t really nurses. Greece’s dire finances have gutted its health care system. Universal coverage effectively ended under the austerity measures imposed under the terms of the country’s bailout. Budget cuts have also thinned the ranks of hospital staff nurses. While private nurses have long been a feature of Greek health care, the country’s economic crisis has left many patients with neither the money nor the insurance coverage to hire licensed caregivers. Instead, patients are turning to illegal nurses, often immigrants with little or no training. One top official said he believed that half of the nursing care came from 18,000 illegal providers. Illegal nurses typically pose as family members or say they are longtime personal em-

ployees of a patient. In reality, temp agencies employing these women send men into the hospitals to distribute business cards advertising 12 hours of nursing care for less than $60. By contrast, a contract nurse at another hospital, Sotiria, costs nearly $70 for 6 hours and 40 minutes, though those who still have insurance can be reimbursed for some of the cost. Administrators say they lack the legal jurisdiction to act without police intervention. “We see more and more illegal nurses,” said Anastasios Grigoropoulos, the chief executive of Evangelismos Hospital. “You can’t do anything.” A few days earlier, Evangelismos was raided. Several illegal nurses were arrested, but that is a fairly rare event, because the police have had their own cutbacks. Government agencies, too, have been overwhelmed. An influx of immigrants since the 1990s swelled a pool of cheap labor. These immigrants “filled the space and found themselves in every clinic and every hospital,” said Dimitrios Papachristou, at the Social Insurance Institute, a state agency that provides insurance and pensions to 2.2 million Greek workers, including nurses. But some of the real nurses having trouble getting work are themselves immigrants, like Eleni Souli, a 41-year-old Albanian who married a Greek man. She was sitting with eight other nurses recently. All had studied for two to four years to become nurses, and they poured out their frustration. “They are not nurses,” Ms. Souli said of the illegal workers. Dr. Miltiadis Papastamatiou, chief executive at Sotiria Hospital, said retired nurses were often not replaced, “and that’s led to the needs of both patients and staff not being adequately met,” though he played down the extent of the problem at Sotiria. But a staff nurse there, who would not give her name for fear of losing her job, acknowledged the severity of the issue. “We know what’s going on,” she shrugged. “Everybody knows.”

EIRINI VOURLOUMIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Soliciting for illegal nurses has risen. Fotini Katsigianni, a nurse, was approached when her husband was a patient.

ADAM DEAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; BELOW, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Returning to What Sells: Heroin By THOMAS FULLER

BANG LAEM, Myanmar — A decade ago, Myanmar seemed on course to wipe out the opium fields and heroin jungle labs along its eastern border, the notorious Golden Triangle. Today, valley after valley is covered with poppies. Land under poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled since 2006, reaching close to 61,000 hectares, according to the United Nations. Many farmers produce two crops a year. Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but farmers in this remote and desperately poor region say they have few viable options. “We don’t want to grow poppy our whole lives,” said Sang Phae, 36. “We know this is not good for society, and other countries don’t like it. But there’s no other way for us now.” Myanmar remains a distant second to Afghanistan in global production of opium, the key ingredient in heroin. But Golden Triangle heroin has a reputation for superior quality and fetches much higher prices, especially in China, which appears to be the primary market. Until the 1980s, Myanmar was the world’s largest supplier of heroin. Afghan production surged around the turn of the century, and supplies from the Golden Triangle plummeted when China pressured Myanmar ethnic groups along its border to stop growing poppy. But instead of disappearing, opium production migrated south, away from the Chinese border, into areas of Myanmar controlled by a patchwork of ethnic groups, some of them allied with the government, some of them hostile. Although the government controls the Golden Triangle’s big towns, upland areas are the fiefs of militias and ethnic armies, and the new center of the opium-growing business. Myanmar’s return to drug trafficking comes as the country sheds the shackles of five decades Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar.

480 Kilometers

INDIA

CHINA

ONLINE: FIELDS OF OPIUM

Video and more images on Myanmar’s poppy farming: nytimes.com Search Sang Phae

The Golden Triangle

Bang Laem

VIETNAM

MYANMAR LAOS Bay of Bengal

THAILAND CAMBODIA Andaman Sea

The cash crop of opium lets small-scale farmers have the income to buy rice, salt and other necessities. of isolation and dictatorship. The Myanmar military, which is battling a number of ethnic armies even as the government professes peace, is wary of cracking down on drugs, fearing it could jeopardize tenuous alliances it has built with other militias, said John M. Whalen, the director of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration office in Myanmar until he retired in June. “You have various militia groups that are allowed to car-

A dangerous but profitable business in Myanmar. ry on because the government needs them,” he said. Here in Bang Laem, poppies are grown in the mountainous backcountry controlled by longtime adversaries of the central government, the southern faction of the Shan State Army. Known as a “black zone,” the area is generally off-limits to foreigners. For farmers inured to conflict — almost everyone has a tale of being forced to flee the area when

rival armies and militias battled — poppy has been a low-risk cash crop. It takes only four months to cultivate, and the bounty is portable: A year’s harvest for a typical farmer would fit inside a pillowcase. “For many people in this country opium is not a problem, it’s the solution — a way for small-scale farmers to increase incomes to buy salt, rice, medicines and other essentials,” said Tom Kramer of the Transnational Institute, an organization based in the Netherlands that tracks illicit drugs. Brokers come to buy the raw opium as soon as it is harvested, but villagers must also reckon with the thuggish elements of the underground economy, including countless requests for payoffs, often at gunpoint. “You can get double or triple from poppy, but you have to pay taxes to so many people,” said Ba Sang Jyan, 73, a grandmother who owns a small grocery store and has an opium field in her backyard. Ms. Jyan and other villagers offer a long list of people they pay off: the police, the national army, the Shan State Army and military intelligence officers. The United Nations has persuaded families here to dedicate part of their fields to coffee plants, a pilot project led by Jochen Wiese, an official with the United Nations anti-narcotics office who spent nearly three decades in Peru and started a successful crop substitution program there for farmers of coca. Farmers say they are willing to try cultivating coffee, which takes three years to produce beans, but are not yet ready to abandon their poppy fields. “We’d love to stop producing opium as soon as possible,” said Nang Wan, 23, who watched over her toddler as her husband harvested opium sap. “But if you only plant coffee, you’ll have nothing to eat.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

WORLD TRENDS

Subsidies End Globally As Oil Prices Plummet Continued from Page 23 energy experts say. But the subsidies are also a drag on economic development and cause environmental damage by encouraging the burning of fossil fuels and discouraging efficiency, the experts say. Since 2011, there has been slow reform in the Middle East and Africa, with Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Mauritania, Tunisia and Yemen raising some energy prices. But turbulence in the region has slowed change. Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela — three

Keeping fuel costs artificially low can hinder development. of the most heavily subsidized countries — have done little or nothing to reform. That is because cutting subsidies often leads to a backlash, energy experts say, and they have already emboldened the opposition in Kuwait. Cuts in energy subsidies helped produce serious political turbulence in Venezuela in 1993 and Indonesia in 1998, and more recently in Nigeria, Jordan and Ecuador. Now, with political tensions high in North Africa and the Middle East, Kuwait, Oman and Abu Dhabi have all begun to reduce subsidies on power, diesel and

natural gas in recent months. Kuwait has been notably aggressive because of a fiscal squeeze, and it has plans to triple the price of kerosene and diesel early this year. (Subsidies on gasoline and electricity, though, will remain untouched for now.) At the same time, Egypt, which began cutting energy subsidies last spring even before oil prices began their 50 percent decline, is quickening the pace of its energy reform. For countries like India, Egypt and Indonesia, which import sizable amounts of oil, governments hope not only to save money on subsidies but also to curb energy use to improve their balances of trade. For producing countries like Oman and Kuwait, lower subsidies save their governments money when they are earning much less from their exports. For both producer and consumer countries, government funds that finance subsidies could instead go to social programs and other investments. “We know from studies in Mexico, Africa and Asia that these subsidies do not end up in the hands of the poorest people,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at the University of California, Davis. “They put a strain on federal budgets that are needed to help the poor, and they end up helping the wealthiest and middle class in these societies more.” Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, United Arab Emirates minister of state and chairman of Masdar, a company specializing in clean-energy technology, told

In countries that import a lot of oil, governments hope both to save money and to curb energy use by cutting fuel subsidies. Indonesians waiting to fill their scooters with subsidized fuel last November. The country stopped subsidizing gasoline on January 1. DEDI SAHPUTRA/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

officials at a regional energy conference in January that money saved from reduced subsidies “can otherwise be redirected to improve energy systems and transform economies by creating jobs, stimulating economic growth and educating future generations.” The United States, like most developed countries, does not subsidize the consumption of energy or put price controls on fossil fuels, although environmentalists point out that oil companies receive tax breaks for exploration. A debate has begun about whether to raise gasoline taxes now to repair roads and bridges, as well as to damp demand for cheap fuel. With oil prices halved, cutting subsidies is half as expensive for the governments at a time when they are under financial stress. Saudi Arabia, for example, now consumes about a quarter of its

production of oil domestically compared with only 3 percent in the 1970s, because of a growing and more prosperous population and dependence on burning oil for electrical power. At the same time, subsidized consumption has meant lower revenues for national oil companies across the region, impeding exploration and technological advancement. Rising consumption of oil in the Middle East and in the developing world has tightened global supplies by several million barrels a day, energy experts say, helping to raise crude prices over the last decade. For years, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been urging Middle East producers and developing countries alike to cut subsidies. In a report in October, the I.M.F. reported that subsidies distort prices and foster overcon-

sumption. “Overconsumption leads to adverse impacts on traffic congestion, health, and the environment,” the I.M.F. said in a report in October. “Subsidies also discourage investment in the energy sector, and encourage smuggling and black market activity, which can lead to shortages of subsidized products.” At an energy conference in Abu Dhabi in December, Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, urged regional oil ministers to seize the moment of low energy prices to reduce subsidies. “There is no time for action like the present,” she was quoted as saying by the Middle East Petroleum and Economic Publications, which is based in Cyprus. “It’s an opportunity to put a price on carbon and slash fossil fuel subsidies.”

Finding Much-Needed Relief for Grumpy Travelers Newark airport in New Jersey is trying to make more tolerable the worst part of flying: waiting for a flight at Newark airport. The efforts there are just one example of LENS how airports are recognizing that the process of flying, from check-in to deplaning, seems designed to torture even the most patient of passengers. “Everything that happens before I get on that plane has the potential to make me nuts,” Robert Gogel, a seasoned business traveler who lives in Paris but lists his address as Seat 11D, told The Times. In Newark, salvation may come via a bevy of iPads — 1,500 in total — awaiting travelers in the airport’s Terminal C eating and lounging areas. The goal is to make the waiting endurable by allowing passengers to surf the web, order a cheeseburger, track flights and, in a more For comments, write to nytweekly@nytimes.com.

utopian commercial future, buy creature comforts like neck pillows, The Times reported. Airports all over are installing iPads in terminals, gate areas and restaurants to soothe weary travelers, and travelers seem to like the convenience. On a stopover en route to Barcelona last summer, Carmen Vega eschewed her own tablet for one offered at Toronto’s Pearson airport. “You’re carrying so many things when you travel,” she told The Times, describing how she had to wrangle to find her tablet. “I ended up using theirs just because it was more comfortable.” It might, however, take more than neck pillows and spotty Wi-Fi to make fliers happier, so changes are coming to the plane cabin as well. Ample leg room may still be a dream, but a new treaty in the overhead bin wars has been reached, helping out musically inclined passengers. Zachary De Pue, the concertmaster at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, had an online post that went viral last year after he was not permitted to board a flight with his valuable violin. “Bach would be very upset,” Mr. De Pue said in a video from

Aids for maintaining composure, even at the airport.

SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Regulators and airports are trying to ease flying discomforts by offering iPads and new rules for musicians’ carry-ons. the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina. But starting in March, when a new rule takes effect, airlines in the United States will be required to treat instruments like any other carry-on bag, Joe Sharkey reported in The Times. In other words: first come, first served, even if that guitar case is unwieldy. Flight attendants cannot remove the instrument

once it is in the bin and require you to check it, “even if the space taken by the musical instrument could accommodate one or more other carry-on bags,” the federal rule says. And those who are not storing a Stradivarius in the overhead compartment will benefit as well. It should reduce “back-and-forth arguments” in the aisle, Alfonso Pollard, the legislative director of

the American Federation of Musicians, told The Times. If you’ve still got the airline blues, however, sometimes the best solution is to suffer in silence. That’s the lesson Mr. Gogel has learned during his many years as a road warrior. “All of my travels have made me a huge fan of the free toiletry bags that are often distributed on international flights,” he said of packages of lip balm, hand cream and other essentials. “I remember talking to a seatmate and complaining about how cheap and poorly made they are now compared with the past,” he continued. “A few minutes into the conversation, I discovered that the guy I was talking to manufactured most of them.” The lesson? “Sometimes it’s better not to talk,” he said. Or else you might just become someone else’s travel nightmare. NICOLE HILL

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Sanctity of Truth

WORLD TRENDS

Russia Plans to Outlast The Economic Gloom Continued from Page 23 “We need to change our economy’s structure.” Yet business owners, economists and former government officials said they expected the Kremlin to react as it had in 2008, the last time oil prices declined sharply — with disaster management, but no fundamental changes. “They are trying to get by, manage it strategically and hope that oil prices rise, hope they can make a few adjustments and it will all go away,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard University who recently attended a high-level economics conference in Moscow. “There is no appetite for fundamental reform. They are just going to wait.” The question is whether $385 billion in government reserves will run dry before oil prices rise. Mr. Rogoff, a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, noted that governments habitually underestimate how fast they will go through their financial reserves.

The Kremlin bets that oil prices will rise soon.

The economic plan protects two of Mr. Putin’s most important constituencies — older Russians and the security establishment. It earmarks more than $2.7 billion to peg pensions closer to the inflation rate, which mushroomed to 11.4 percent last year and is expected to be at least as high in 2015. No cuts were announced in military spending. The government appropriated roughly $700 million for agricultural aid. That is meant to help Russian farmers increase production, because prices soared after the Kremlin barred a host of food imports from the West in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States over the annexation of Crimea and Mr. Putin’s actions in eastern Ukraine. Food prices climbed more than 15 percent last year, with some staples like sugar up 40 percent. The Kremlin’s response combines confidence oil prices will rebound soon with bravado that Russians will endure a ny ha rdsh ip, including eating less, for the mothPOOL PHOTO ROB GRIFFITH erland. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Recently, at the and King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Gaidar Forum, the then the crown prince, in November. country’s premier economic conferEnergy experts say it may be ence, three top officials painted quite some time before current different portraits of the econprices of less than $50 a barrel omy. Prime Minister Dmitri A. regain the lofty $100 levels that Medvedev called the reliance prevailed in recent years. on raw material exports “a Russia, they say, is simply thing of the past,” without saynot prepared — or perhaps is ing what would replace them. unable — to take the measures Alexei Ulyukayev, the minisneeded to stimulate economic ter of economic development, growth to make up for lost oil said Russia had plenty of monrevenue. But there is a possibiley to ride out the hard times unity that Saudi Arabia may come til economic growth resumed in to Russia’s rescue. The Saudis a year or two. have been pressing Mr. Putin to Only Mr. Siluanov, the fiabandon his support for Presinance minister, expressed condent Bashar al-Assad of Syria. cern, saying: “In the Ministry They say they may have leverof Finance we have no peace of mind. It’s only tension.” age because of their ability to Mr. Lebedev proposed imreduce the supply of oil to drive up prices. mediate measures to stimulate It is unclear how explicitly economic growth, including deSaudi officials have linked oil to regulating the timber industry, the issue of Syria in their talks subsidizing agricultural loans with Moscow. But any weakenand aiding construction by reing of Russian support for Mr. leasing public land. Assad could be one of the first For now, there is no actual signs that the recent tumult in panic in the Kremlin, analysts the oil market is having an imsaid. Igor Yurgens, the chairman pact on global statecraft. of the Institute of ContempoIn the meantime, Russian measures to shore up the econrary Development, a liberomy include more than $22 bilal-leaning research organizalion for banks and major state tion, said: “It’s tolerable. There companies, including roughly is vodka, there are groceries $8 billion from the Russian Naon the table, there are pickled cucumbers. We will manage.” tional Wealth Fund.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

In Venezuela, Deficits Of Food and Drugs Continued from Page 23 unit for weeks because of shortages of medical supplies. Some drugs have been out of stock for months, and at least one clinic performed heart operations only by smuggling in a vital drug from the United States. And diapers are so coveted that some shoppers carry the birth certificates of their children in case stores demand them. Economists predict that shortages will get even more acute and inflation, already 64 percent, will climb. The price of Venezuelan oil dropped last month to $38 a barrel, down from $96 in September. Mr. Maduro spent two weeks in January traveling the globe in an effort to court investment and persuade other oil-producing nations to cut production and push the price back up. “We have serious economic difficulties regarding the country’s revenue,” Mr. Maduro said to the legislature during his annual address. “But God will always be with us. God will provide. And we will get, and we have gotten, the resources to maintain the country’s rhythm.” After months of toying with the politically taboo idea of raising the price of gasoline sold at pumps here, the cheapest in the world, he said that the time had finally come to do so. On February 6, Mr. Maduro ordered the takeover of a supermarket chain that officials have accused of hoarding products as part of an “economic war” against his government. Though he did not name the company, he was referring to the Día a Día chain, which has stores in poorer neighborhoods. That same day, criminal charges were filed against a manager of the supermarket chain, accusing him of destabilizing the economy. Similar charges had already been filed against two executives of the country’s largest pharmacy chain, Farmatodo. Many economists argue that government policies are a big Catalina Lobo-Guerrero and Patricia Torres contributed reporting.

part of the problem, including a highly overvalued currency, price controls that dissuade manufacturers and farmers, and government restrictions on access to dollars that have led to a steep drop in imports. Some investors fear Venezuela will default on billions of dollars in bonds, but Mr. Maduro has said the country will pay its debts. Typically, in an election year like this one, when voters will choose a new legislature, the government showers supporters with goods, like refrigerators and washing machines, or other benefits, like free housing. But now there may not be enough foreign currency to import appliances and construction materials. In interviews, shoppers said the economic crisis meant eating canned sardines instead of chicken, or boiled food instead of fried because vegetable oil is so hard to get. Fresh fish can be hard to

Fishermen sell their subsidized fuel rather than fish. find, in part, fishermen said, because they find it more profitable to use their boats to sell subsidized Venezuelan diesel on the black market in a high-seas rendezvous. Social media here is full of urgent pleas from patients trying to find prescription medicine. Dr. Gastón Silva, the head of cardiovascular surgery at the University Hospital of Caracas, said that because of medical shortages, only about 100 heart operations were performed there last year, down from 300 or more in previous years. Some patients who had been hospitalized awaiting surgery for a month or more were sent home in November because there were not enough supplies, and the operating rooms remained shut for more than eight weeks, Dr. Silva said, despite a list of hundreds of people awaiting heart operations.

Medicines and supplies are in short supply in state hospitals in Caracas; private stores, top, have few basics. He said the shortages stemmed from the government’s foreign exchange controls, which have kept medical importers from getting access to the money they need to make purchases abroad. “We are getting to a breaking point,” he said. “If one thing is lacking, O.K. If there are no automobile parts, we’ll see. Food, that’s problematic. But health care, that’s more problematic.” On a recent morning, hundreds of people stood in line outside a warehouse store. Inside, many shelves were stripped clean. The large appliance and electronics section was empty. There was no fresh meat; a cooler was filled with frozen pigs feet. Most people came to buy only three items sold at government-mandated prices: laundry detergent, vegetable oil and corn flour. Every purchase was entered into a database, ensuring that shoppers did not try to buy the same regulated staples for at least seven days. Soldiers patrolled outside, police officers were stationed inside and government officials checked identification cards, looking for fake ones that could be used to cheat the rationing system — or for immigrants with expired visas. An official from the immigration and identification service said that offenders would be arrested. “This is pathetic,” said Yenerly Niño, 18, adding that she had waited more than five hours to buy the three subsidized products. “You do what you have to,” she said. “If you don’t do it, you don’t eat.”

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

WORLD TRENDS

In an Activist Poet’s Killing, a Lament for Egypt’s Loss The shooting death of Shaimaa el-Sabbagh on January 24 was captured in photos and video; bottom left, her funeral the next day.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

CAIRO — Her friends wanted to lay a wreath in Tahrir Square as a memorial, but Shaimaa el-Sabbagh urged them to reconsider. She feared that the police might attack, mistaking them for supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, said a cousin, Sami Mohamed Ibrahim. But how, her friends asked, could the police attack civilians who were armed only with flowers? So she kissed her 5-year-old son, Bilal, goodbye; left him in the care of a friend near her home in Alexandria; and boarded a train for Cairo. By midafternoon on January 24, Ms. Sabbagh, 31, lay dead on a street downtown, a potent symbol of the lethal force the Egyptian authorities have deployed to silence the dissent unleashed four years ago. Stark images of her killing resonated so widely here that in a televised appearance on February 1, even President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi offered condolences. Police attempts to deflect blame for her killing have been undercut by Ms. Sabbagh’s personal profile: as a mother, a poet and a left-leaning activist who supported the military ouster of the Islamist president. Photographers and videographers captured her death. As the procession began, riot police officers blasted the crowd with tear gas and birdshot. A shotgun cracked. A friend held Ms. Sabbagh to keep her upright, blood streaking down her cheeks. An-

LEFT TOP: AL YOUM AL SAABI/REUTERS; LEFT BOTTOM: MAHMOUD TAHA/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY; RIGHT, TOP AND BOTTOM: EMAD EL-GEBALY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

other friend carried her through the tear gas in a vain attempt to save her. “A woman who went out to lay a wreath of flowers on Tahrir Square — we see her taking her last breath,” said Ghada Shahbandar, an Egyptian rights advocate. “How much more explicit can an image be?” “It is a disgrace,” she said, lamenting the surreal attempts of the government’s supporters to pin the blame on a shadowy conspiracy. Ms. Sabbagh’s is just one name

on a roster of thousands killed by police gunfire since the Arab Spring began in 2011. More than 800 were killed during the 18-day uprising against President Hosni Mubarak. About 1,000 more were killed on August 14, 2013, when soldiers and police officers broke up a sit-in by supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds more died that summer. But in “a moment of collapsing freedoms,” Ms. Sabbagh has become “a symbol of the revolu-

tion,” said Sayed Abu Elela, 31, the friend who held her in the moments after she was shot. Ms. Sabbagh grew up in a conservative Muslim household but rebelled against its traditions, her friends said, and her father, a Muslim preacher who died a few years ago, grew resigned to her independence. She became one of a small group of published Egyptian poets working in the avant-garde style of free verse but using popular, colloquial Arabic. She married a painter, Osama el-Sehely, earned a master’s

degree in folklore at the Academy of Arts in Cairo and developed a passion for documenting the fading traditions of daily life. After the uprising in 2011, Ms. Sabbagh joined the Socialist Popular Alliance Party. She became a regular at demonstrations, and her friends called her “the voice of the revolution” because of her talent for leading chants. When a television interviewer in late 2012 asked her to look back at the period “after the revolution,” she rejected the question: “We are still ‘after the revolution,’ ” she said. The Egyptian authorities quickly pledged a full investigation into her death. But an Interior Ministry spokesman made clear that the ministry had ruled out police responsibility. Ms. Sabbagh’s history, though, has also made it difficult for the authorities to explain away the killing by accusing her of treason or violence. Even the flagship state newspaper, Al Ahram, published an editorial expressing rare, officially sanctioned criticism of the Egyptian police. “Peaceful Sha imaa only dreamed of a free country,” wrote Ahmed el-Sayed al-Naggar, the chairman of the state-run news organization, but “she was killed in cold blood by the same person who killed the martyrs she was going to honor.”

Traffickers Prey on Desperate Syrians By CEYLAN YEGINSU

SIDE, Turkey — He left his home in Syria over a year ago and set out more than a dozen times, he said, on ill-fated journeys to the promised lands of Western Europe. He never made it. In his last attempt, the fishing boat he was on capsized, killing 44 people, including one of his friends. “I swam for 11› hours before I was rescued by the Turks,” the man said. “That’s when I realized that I would never make it to Europe. So I decided to stay and help people get there myself.” The decision proved to be profitable for the man, who is known as Abu Mohammed, a pseudonym. He is now a crucial operative in a sprawling migrant smuggling operation based in Turkey that has grown as the Syrian civil war grinds on. He makes about $500 per passenger by organizing large cargo ships supplied by Syrian businessmen to transport other Syrians to Europe. He works with three partners in Turkey and said they had transferred thousands of Syrians to Europe over the past four months. Despite the lucrative nature of his business, he insisted that he and his associates were motivated by a desire to help his fellow Syrians. Abu Mohammed said he made sure the ships were seaworthy. “A lot of the traffickers here are Syrian and we all

fear God,” he said. “On each ship there is an extended family member or a mother, or a child. We don’t want to send people to their death.” More than three million Syrians have fled their country’s civil war over the last four years. Most have fled to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, countries that have struggled to cope with so many newcomers. Now an increasing number of refugees are turning to human smuggling operations

After four years of war, more try the risky trip to Europe. as a way to reach Europe. Last year, 200,000 migrants — over half of them from Syria and Eritrea — arrived in Europe, up from 63,000 in 2013, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Thousands died as they tried to cross the Mediterranean on decrepit boats. Abu Mohammed said that none of the ships he runs had suffered any casualties. It was not possible to verify his assertion, but former passengers said they chose him because he had a reputation for getting refugees

safely to Europe. In recent months, smugglers have begun loading migrants into cargo ships that can be reached from Turkey’s eastern Mediterranean coastline. The smugglers then set them on a course for Europe and abandon them, confident that European coast guards will feel morally and legally bound to rescue them. The ships are more seaworthy than the small boats previously favored by traffickers, but it is still a dangerous passage. Last month, two battered freighters carrying almost 1,000 migrants were abandoned during a storm and were rescued by European vessels. Abu Mohammed dispatches his customers from the coves around Side, a small resort town. On a recent evening, using fishing boats, he managed to get about 200 Syrian refugees to a cargo ship in international waters, about 56 kilometers from the shore. There, they waited for another group before setting off for Italy. One of the refugees, Mohammed al-Nasir, 24, had spent the past year in Istanbul, working as a cleaner, but he managed to save enough for the trip. Many of the mostly middle-class Syrians have to sell their houses to buy tickets. “With everything we have seen and been through, we are prepared to sacrifice every-

AYMAN OGHANNA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

More than three million people have fled Syria’s civil war. A migrant in Turkey has paid traffickers to get him into Europe. thing just to get to a better place,” Mr. Nasir said. “We are indifferent to safety on the sea because we face a bigger risk of death at home. We just want to get there now.” The flow of refugees into Turkey has accelerated as the scope of European efforts to target traffickers and rescue migrants has been scaled back. In October, an Italian search-and-rescue initiative called Mare Nostrum was replaced by the European Unionled Triton mission, which has a more limited mandate. Turkey has become a new hub for smugglers, many of whom operate out of Mersin, a major port city. Smugglers employ brokers to find customers in cities where there are large refugee popula-

tions. Social media platforms are used to advertise the services of traffickers. Migrants also use Facebook groups to vet the best smugglers, comparing prices, which run from $4,000 to $6,000. The increased activity in Turkish ports has caught the attention of the authorities, and in recent weeks Mr. Mohammed and other smugglers have reported seeing stepped up patrols by the Turkish coast guard. Turkey, for its part, said that stopping the flow of migrants was impossible. “We have taken in nearly two million Syrian refugees while Europe has taken in a bare minimum,” said a government official, speaking anonymously. “It’s only natural that the refugees seek illegal routes to get there.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Sanctity of Truth

MONEY & BUSINESS NEWS ANALYSIS

As Africa Prospers, Will Diets Improve? By DAVID LEONHARDT

For decades, the countries of Africa were the world’s economic laggards. But over the last decade, Africa’s per capita income has grown at a rate nearly identical to that of the rest of the world. It’s reasonable to imagine that the continent is in the early stages of a trajectory that could mimic that of Latin America or, more ambitiously, parts of Asia. With the world experiencing one of the greatest extended reductions in poverty on record, Africa has finally become part of the story. A middle class is developing in West Africa, from Ghana and Nigeria to Angola. Severely poor countries, like Ethiopia and Liberia, are making rapid progress. Along with Africa’s economic stirrings come the same questions that have confronted the rest of the developing world, especially around food. Will the economic growth prove lasting and broad enough to end the continent’s tragic famines? Will those Africans who today live almost

Better roads and cellphones would aid farmers.

ity of food stretch back centuries, not just in Africa. The crux of the essay that made Thomas Malthus famous, in 1798, argued that food production grew arithmetically while the population grew geometrically, dooming the human species to a grim future. It turns out that the fruits of human ingenuity grow geometrically, too — more than rapidly enough to keep pace with population growth. The share of income that societies devote to food has fallen sharply even as the world’s population has grown to 7.3 billion. I asked the Gateses why food production needed to be among their big new goals. After all, private market economies have generally managed to deliver enough food, at least to countries on the rise. I mentioned Paul Ehrlich and his wellknown $10,000 bet with the economist Julian Simon in 1980, over the price of a basket of commodities. Mr. Ehrlich thought the prices would rise by 1990, in a sign that the resources could not keep up with population growth. Mr. Simon thought otherwise — and won. BEN CURTIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS “Even Simon’s Most Africans rely on starches view was that humans would have to for food. Rwandan farmers grow change to innovate,” staples, including rice, to feed Mr. Gates said. Innosome 12 million people. vation is not preordained. Indeed, it’s entirely on starches like cassahappened much more in some societies than in others. And it va be able to switch to a more has happened, Mr. Gates was varied and nutritious diet? On arguing, because people and the continent likely to suffer institutions took steps to resome of the worst consequences of climate change, how will move the barriers to progress. farmers cope? With African agriculture, The Bill & Melinda Gates those barriers include roads Foundation, which has spent that are too narrow to transmore than $3 billion in grants port grain quickly, lack of on African agriculture, recentknowledge about how crops fare best in some places and a ly announced its goals for the dearth of basic information — next 15 years. Among them: on market prices, for instance programs to help Africa feed — that hampers farmers. itself. “They get taken by the midAfrica’s farmers today are vastly less productive than dlemen,” Ms. Gates said. “If farmers elsewhere — getthey have a cellphone, they’re informed.” ting less than one-fifth the Climate change, left unadyield on corn that American farmers do, for instance. The dressed, presents grave danfoundation plans to finance gers for everyone. more scientific research, new But much of the world is programs to disseminate that enjoying one of history’s most research, better food storage rapid increases in prosperity. and more mobile phones. A Life expectancy has risen more efficient agricultural more than six years since 1990. sector, the Gateses write in As Mr. Gates says: “The their annual letter, “can drive world is actually improving massive poverty reduction a lot. We’re trying to deliver and improve life across the both the good news on the continent.” progress and the possibility to Worries about the availabil do more.”

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARLENE AWAAD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Superyacht Overhauls Revive Port By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE

LA CIOTAT, France — After divers checked the supporting mounts, a massive submerged boat elevator slowly raised the 600-metric-ton, 51-meter-long yacht M/Y Sky clear of the Mediterranean, gradually revealing its black matte hull. When the entire ship, replete with helicopter pad and five staterooms, reached the height of the quay, it rode a motorized dolly onto metal rails. Then it rolled toward the giant shed where it will stay until March for cleaning, painting and repairs in a makeover costing 2 million euros, or $2.3 million. Winter is a busy time in this picturesque town in southeast France that is Europe’s largest yacht-maintenance and refitting seaport, as measured by revenue. Many of the world’s biggest, most expensive private yachts may be built elsewhere: Germany and the Netherlands are the leaders in that business. Other ports — including Barcelona, Spain, and Genoa, Italy — do a brisk business in yacht servicing. And some of the greatest yachts never make their way to Monaco or the Côte d’Azur, or other playgrounds for the rich and seaworthy. But by dint of geography and history, La Ciotat is special. The M/Y Sky belongs to a category known as superyachts — usually defined as boats whose hulls at the water line measure longer than 24 meters. The biggest might cost $100 million or more, and measure nearly 140 meters from stem to stern. Experts estimate that 5,000 superyachts are in operation worldwide, and that more than one-fifth of those were purchased in the last five years. To emerge as a global leader in superyacht repair represents a remarkable economic comeback for this town of 34,000 people. Dating to the early 1800s, commercial shipbuilding provided the seaport’s economic lifeblood. When a ship slid down the wooden ramps and entered the water, it would create waves so big they often flooded the surrounding

BRITAIN

NETH.

Falmouth

BEL.

GERMANY

FRANCE SWITZ. Genoa

La Ciotat

SPAIN

ITALY

Barcelona Palma de Majorca Mediterranean Sea

ALGERIA

TUNISIA THE NEW YORK TIMES

ONLINE: SEAPORT REVIVAL

Images of fabulous ships and a newly busy waterfront: nytimes.com Search La Ciotat

cafe terraces, sometimes even upending parked cars. But after World War II, other parts of the world, particularly Japan and South Korea, were able to undercut European shipbuilders. The main commercial shipyard here, Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat, closed in 1986, putting about 6,000 people out of work. But by the 1990s, La Ciotat had begun coming back to maritime life, as shipwrights, mast builders and other craftsmen specializing in custom sailboats and leisure motorboats started arriving. Now, most of the yachts that

A technician at work on a superyacht in La Ciotat. Top, an underwater elevator and a huge crane have helped the town attract luxury yachts that need refurbishment. heave up to La Ciotat come for the dry dock inspections required for insurance verification. More extensive jobs, which might cost an owner tens of millions of euros, involve more overhauling, updating or outright rebuilding. Local officials say the shipyards helped save La Ciotat. “You don’t develop a city by turning your back on its history,” said the city’s longtime mayor, Patrick Boré. Together, the shipyards employ 700 people full time and work with another 700 subcontractors. An important draw is the underwater elevator, installed in 2007, which is capable of hauling up boats that weigh 1,800 metric tons. A new crane, capable of lifting boats weighing up to 300 metric tons, was installed in 2009. The modernization is paying off. In 2007, 44 boats were hauled onto land for refitting, repair or conversion. Last year, nearly 220 yachts were lifted onto the docks. Michel Chatail, who was a technical drafter at the former shipyards, was asked if he missed the old days of La Ciotat. “We are actually happy now,” he said. “The young have jobs, and we are all retired.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

MONEY & BUSINESS

Sex Toy Industry Set For ‘Fifty Shades’ By RACHEL ABRAMS

When toys are made for movies, they are usually intended for children. But with the worldwide premiere this month of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” many of the tie-ins to the film are for adults only. The sex toy industry is banking on the hope that the Universal Pictures film will generate soaring sales, much the way the blockbuster erotic novel of the same name created thousands of new customers from the female readers who passed the book around their suburban cul-de-sacs. Retailers are stocking up on the pleasure industry’s blindfolds, whips, handcuffs and masks. Manufacturers have designed new packaging and products to fit the kinky tone and theme of the film, which is based on E. L. James’s story about a naïve young woman’s

A film about erotic play may encourage experimenting. introduction to games of sexual bondage. Even the Target retail chain recently began selling a “Fifty Shades of Grey” “vibrating love ring,” an item intended for wear by men, but not on the finger. “It is the biggest moment for our industry in popular culture pretty much ever,” said Claire Cavanah, a co-founder of Babeland, an adult novelty retailer. More than 100 million copies of Ms. James’s trilogy — two followed “Fifty Shades of Grey” — have been sold. Ms. James, a middle-aged British mother and former television producer, was credited with introducing the concept of BDSM (standing for, loosely: bondage/discipline, domination/submission, sadism/masochism) into the mainstream vernacular. She also ignited a huge bidding war in Hollywood. Movie executives vied for a chance

to tell the story of Anastasia Steele, a virginal 21-year-old student who becomes the submissive sexual partner to Christian Grey, a successful 27-year-old businessman. Universal Studios and Focus Features won, paying $5 million. The studio wanted to capitalize on the same readers who sent sales of adult products skyrocketing after “Fifty Shades of Grey” had its debut as an e-book in 2011. The novel spurred a 7.5 percent jump in sales of sex-themed products, including toys and videos in 2013, according to a report from the research firm IBISWorld. In the United States alone, consumers buy between $600 million and $2 billion worth of sex products annually, experts say. “We were kind of taken by surprise when the book came out,” Ms. Cavanah said. “But we’re much more prepared for the movie.” The movie will not be as graphic as the book. Neal Slateford, a co-founder of Lovehoney, the only company that has the rights to make the official “Fifty Shades of Grey” adult products sold in Target and elsewhere, does not expect certain toys used in the book’s steamiest scenes to appear in the movie. Since only Lovehoney can use the “Fifty Shades of Grey” name, others have been creative. Pipedream Products, which makes sex toys and novelties, redesigned some of its packaging with a gray-andblack color scheme from the movie. California Exotic Novelties broadened its line of “Scandal” restraints when the movie’s trailer came out in July. Jimmyjane, known for its vibrators, is taking its first foray into “soft goods” with a new set of fetish kits inspired by the film that include blindfolds and silk ties. “A lot of the ways they describe the toys and the products in the book, E.L. James didn’t get quite right,” said Susan Colvin of California Exotic Novelties. “Using kegel balls is not too much fun, it’s actually hard work to do it right.”

DEVIN YALKIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Adult shops believe the movie ‘‘Fifty Shades of Grey’’ will help sell more feather whips, masks and handcuffs.

ROBERT STOLARIK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Increased flooding, as in Queens, New York, could be an expensive result of climate change.

Alarm Noted on Warming Cost By BURT HELM

The unusual collection of business and policy leaders in the Risky Business Project don’t agree on much, but they concur on one issue: Shifts in weather over the next few decades will probably cost companies hundreds of billions of dollars, and they have no choice but to adapt. Some in the project advocate a carbon tax, some want to mandate companies to disclose their climate risks. One suggests the world may be able to get by without any mandatory rules at all. The committee started in June as a way to promote a study that it commissioned, “Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States.” It has since evolved into a loose network of missionaries publicizing the report’s data far and wide. The group is led by three men: Tom Steyer, the hedge fund billionaire whose super PAC spent $73 million last year attacking Republicans who denied climate change; Henry M. Paulson Jr., the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs and the Treasury secretary under President George W. Bush; and Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City’s former mayor and the billionaire founder of the financial information company Bloomberg L.P. Each spent $500,000 to commission the Risky Business research and each has his own particular goals for the initiative, all of which would be served by making the climate threat feel real, immediate and potentially devastating to the business world. Mr. Paulson wants companies to implement and regulators to enforce disclosure rules regarding climate risk and carbon emissions for publicly traded companies. Mr. Bloomberg views the work as a way to spur city governments and local businesses to work together on climate issues. Mr. Steyer sees the research as a way to neutralize conservatives’ arguments that environmental regulation always hurts business. “One side argues morality and polar bears, and the other side argues jobs,” Mr. Steyer said.

“You’re never going to win with polar bears.” The project’s inspiration was a British report called the Stern Review, in 2006. That economic analysis, sponsored by the British government, examined all the costs of climate change, eventually concluding that the price of curbing global warming was small compared with the costs of doing nothing. In May 2014, the Risky Business members gathered at the Bloomberg Philanthropies offices in Manhattan to hear the findings of the study they had commissioned. They heard that if the status quo persisted, climate change would increase energy demand in Texas by between 3.4 percent and 9.2 percent by midcentury. Crop yields in Missouri and Illinois would face a 15 percent decline over the next 25 years. And in the Northeast,

Projecting higher insurance premiums, less water and food. annual property damage from severe storms may increase $11.1 billion, to a total of $15.8 billion by the end of the century. When Mr. Paulson speaks to local groups, he makes sure to bring data from the report. “I’m not just having an abstract conversation about climate being this big risk. I can say, ‘Let me tell you!’ ” he said. “Here’s what this is going to mean to you, your industry and your family. Suddenly people are interested.” Another project member, Henry G. Cisneros, the former housing and urban development secretary under President Bill Clinton and now a real estate developer, says he uses a soft touch when speaking to real estate groups, so that people don’t feel lectured to. He warns audiences to budget for spiraling insurance premiums in coastal states like Flor-

ida, and to keep in mind that in drought-prone regions like California’s Central Valley, water permits may become hard to acquire. Greg Page of Cargill, the food conglomerate, treads lightly when addressing farmers’ groups. He says they have been conditioned to think of global warming as a liberal euphemism for more regulation. “I ask simple questions: ‘Would you like universities to suspend research on seeds that grow in higher temperatures? Of course not! That’s all I’m saying!’ ” he said. “You get people to acknowledge that they, too, have anxieties.” Through this kind of education, committee members hope to recruit business leaders to the fight against climate change. “The whole point of all of this is that it can be mitigated,” Mr. Paulson said. “The enemies of what we’re trying to do are short-termism and a sense of hopelessness. But if we act soon we can avoid the worst outcomes and adapt.” Jon Doggett of the National Corn Growers Association was skeptical that the report would influence farmers much. His members need near-term incentives to cut greenhouse gases — immediate cost savings, government incentives and so forth, he said. “Are we going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today because we believe there’s an economic benefit 15 years from now? That’s way too hypothetical for a family-owned and operated business that has to make a payment this year,” Mr. Doggett said. “The banker doesn’t get paid in hypothetical dollars.” But, bit by bit, the Risky Business Project hopes to turn the tide. “We’ve made progress on things like civil rights, smoking, gay marriage and other things that seemed impossible to move when businesspeople joined the silent majority,” Mr. Cisneros said. “Congress tends not to act until the broad mainstream, including business, is aboard.” And if business feels the pain in its wallet, it will feel the heat to act, even on the coldest of days.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Studying Deer, and Migration, to Keep Herd Moving By JAMES GORMAN

THE RED DESERT, Wyoming — As scientists and volunteers wait by the side of a gravel road here, a helicopter swoops down, carrying two blindfolded mule deer in slings. It hovers for a moment in a swirl of rotor-blown snow, detaching the deer slings. Team members carry the deer on canvas stretchers to a spot to be weighed and tested. From each animal, they draw blood, pull a whisker, check a GPS collar or put on a new one, take a rectal temperature and fecal sample, perform an ultrasound on the haunches, shoot a local anesthetic into the jaw, and pull a tooth. Ten minutes later, the deer are freed and dash off. The scientists were taking snapshots of the deer’s health and downloading their movements from their digital collars — part of a broader effort to track and preserve their migration route. Researchers recently discovered that path, which is as long as any known land migration in the lower 48 states, a twice-yearly 240-kilometer journey that has inspired groups to work to protect the route from development. Some conservationists hope the unusual collaboration will serve as a useful precedent that could help protect other species and wild lands. “We think this has the potential to be a model for what state and federal agencies do across the West,” said Leslie Duncan, public lands manager for the Pew Charitable Trusts. Seasonal migrations in search of food are essential to the survival of many animals. The herds of the Serengeti chase the rain. In the American West, elk, deer, antelope and other big game move to mountain slopes in the spring and summer, and wait out the winter at lower, warmer elevations. “Migration is the underlying mechanism that allows this land-

MICHAEL KIRBY SMITH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mule deer are caught in Wyoming and tested in an effort to protect their migration route. ONLINE: HELICOPTER RODEO

A video of deer netted and airlifted by helicopter for tests: nytimes.com Search mule deer

scape to support the deer populations,” said Hall Sawyer, a biologist with Western EcoSystems Technology, a consulting firm, who discovered the route. Because houses and roads, fences and gas wells, and busy routes for four-wheelers and snowmobiles can pose obstacles to traveling animals, conservationists have long recognized that preserving migration routes is essential to preserving wildlife. About 500 deer travel from their winter range in the Red Desert to spring and summer

grounds in the Hoback River basin near Jackson, Wyoming. About 5,000 deer follow part of the path. The route crosses public and private lands, and scientists say it is extraordinary, given its length, that a relatively clear path still exists for the deer. The effort to track the migration began in 2011. Working for the United States Bureau of Land Management, Dr. Sawyer put GPS collars on 40 mule deer in the Red Desert. No one really knew what the deer did in the spring and summer, although some had been seen there yearround. Most mule deer migrate, but some stay put for reasons that are not well understood. Capturing and collaring the animals is a bit like a rodeo. New Zealanders developed a

technique for shooting nets from a helicopter, in which the pilot flies the way a cowboy rides a cutting horse. The pilot isolates a deer, flying close enough for a gunner to fire a net that traps the deer. The pilot then lowers the craft so the “mugger” — the gunner or another crew member — can jump to the ground, run to the deer, wrestle it into a position where he can blindfold it and wrap it in a sling. The helicopter then swings back so the mugger can hitch the sling to the copter before climbing aboard. The process can be rough on the deer, and accidents are inevitable. Kevin Monteith, a wildlife biologist who works with Dr. Sawyer, says 1 percent to 3 percent of the deer die or are injured when trapped by nets,and have to be euthanized.

Once deer are collared, the researchers release them and then recapture them each spring and fall to download information from the collars, which record a deer’s location every three hours. “Data creates opportunities to do things that didn’t exist before,” said Steve Sharkey, director of the Knobloch Family Foundation, which backs the research. Each test provides crucial data. Teeth establish age, whiskers provide DNA, blood and feces provide information about diet and metabolism, and ultrasound scans of the haunches establish percentages of body fat. Migrations in the West follow what biologists call the “green wave” in the spring — the bloom of vegetation that starts at low elevations and moves higher with each day. The deer that fare best “surf” that wave, catching each area’s vegetation at its peak of nutrition and tenderness. When scientists publicized the Red Desert-to-Hoback route, they listed the top 10 challenges it faces. A coalition of Wyoming conservation groups focused on the top challenge for protecting the route — a bottleneck near Fremont Lake. The Conservation Fund is in the process of buying the area involved for about $2 million, to protect it from development. The Knobloch Foundation is providing half of the funding. The more accurate data provided by new technology and the deer are making political and regulatory action easier, mostly by pinpointing the land that is important for protecting the route. “It’s not about huge vast landscapes,” said Peter Aengst, senior director of the Northern Rockies region for the Wilderness Society, which is part of the mule-deer conservation effort. “It’s about very narrow but very critical acres.”

Scrolls May Offer Key to Ancient Library By NICHOLAS WADE

Researchers have found a key that may unlock the only library of classical antiquity to survive along with its documents, raising the possibility of recovering vanished works of ancient Greek and Roman authors such as the lost books of Livy’s history of Rome. The library is that of a villa in Herculaneum, a town that was destroyed in A.D. 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that obliterated nearby Pompeii. Herculaneum, like Pompeii, was engulfed by mixtures of superhot gases and ash, which preserved the documents in a grand villa that probably belonged to the family of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Though the hot gases did not burn the papyrus rolls in the villa’s library, they turned them into cylinders of carbonized plant material. Many attempts have been made to unroll the carbonized scrolls since they were excavated in 1752. But all were highly destructive, and scholars

Technology offers a glimpse of books from Caesar’s time. decided to leave the scrolls alone in the hope that better methods would be invented. More than 300 scrolls survive, with many more fragments. Researchers led by Vito Mocella, of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems in Naples, Italy, now say they can read letters inside the scrolls without unrolling them. Using a laserlike beam of X-rays from the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France, they were able to pick up the very slight contrast between the carbonized papyrus fibers and the ancient ink, soot-based and also made of carbon. The contrast has allowed them to recognize individual Greek letters from the interior of the roll, Dr. Mocella’s team reported

in the journal Nature Communications. “At least we know there are techniques able to read inside the papyri, finally,” Dr. Mocella said. “If the technology is perfected, it will be a real leap forward,” said Richard Janko, a classical scholar at the University of Michigan, who has translated some of the few scrolls that can be read. The team’s work is the second recent advance in reading the scrolls. In 2009, Brent Seales of the University of Kentucky succeeded in delineating the physical structure of a Herculaneum scroll by X-ray-computed tomography, similar to a CT scan. The layers of papyrus are highly ruffled and irregular because the hot gases liberated the water from the fibers as well as carbonizing them. The Mocella team’s method visualizes letters free floating inside the scroll, but each letter will need to be assigned to its correct place on Dr. Seales’s surface before the letters can form words. Dr. Seales and Dr. Mo-

The Herculaneum scrolls became carbonized plant matter in a volcanic eruption.

SALVATORE L a PORTA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

cella worked with Herculaneum scrolls acquired by Napoleon in 1802 and belonging to the Institut de France in Paris. “This is absolutely a major step forward,” Dr. Seales said of the Mocella report. “These guys are focused on showing the imagery with best contrast. But to really read the papyrus, you need to untangle its surface, which is the active area of my work.” Classical scholars are particularly interested in the physicists’ progress because of the chance of uncovering lost works of Latin and Greek literature. Piso’s grand villa— which is the model for the Getty Villa, part of the J.

Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — is thought to have contained a wide-ranging library, much of which may still exist in unexcavated portions of the building. The library may have had a Latin section. This could contain some of the many lost works of Roman history and literature. David Sider of New York University said, “For a scholar, it would be wonderful to have a manuscript of Virgil written in his lifetime, because what we have are medieval manuscripts which have suffered many changes at the hands of copyists.”

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS ANALYSIS

Report Calls Push For Biofuels Misguided By JUSTIN GILLIS

MONICA ALMEIDA/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Vaccine Opponents Face Backlash By JACK HEALY and MICHAEL PAULSON

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — As officials in many parts of the United States grapple to contain a measles outbreak that began at Disneyland, the parents in America’s anti-vaccine movement are being blamed for incubating an otherwise preventable public-health crisis. America had declared the highly contagious disease vanquished 15 years ago, before a statistically significant number of parents started refusing to vaccinate their children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that measles cases soared last year to 644, many more than in any other year in more than a decade. For January, the C.D.C. reported 102 measles cases in 14 states. That, plus seeing their children sent home from school, their families barred from birthday parties and play dates, and people calling them negligent and criminal online, has not changed the minds of some anti-vaccine parents. “There is absolutely no reason to get the shot,” said Crystal McDonald, whose 16-year-old daughter was one of 66 students sent home from Palm Desert High School for two weeks because they were not vaccinated. Her daughter was so concerned about missing Advanced Placement classes that she suggested simply getting a measles inoculation. “I said, ‘No, absolutely not,’ ” Ms. McDonald said. “I said, ‘I’d rather you miss an entire semester than you get the shot.’ ” The anti-vaccine movement can be traced to a 1998 report in a medical journal that suggested a link between vaccines and autism but was later proved fraudulent. “It’s very frustrating,” said Dr. Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County, where some schools report that 50 percent to 60 percent of their kindergartners are not fully vaccinated. “It’s hard to see a kid suffer for something that’s entirely preventable.” As worries and anger over this outbreak have spread, families have said they do not want to be in the same waiting room

JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES

as unvaccinated children. “Our patients are really scared,” Dr. Ball said. “Our nightmare would be for someone to show up at our door with the measles.” Measles is a viral illness that spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. Before vaccinations became common in 1963, about three million to four million Americans contracted it each year, according to the C.D.C., and about 400 to 500 died from it. In Kearny, Arizona, a rural community, an unvaccinated family who visited Disneyland in December brought back four cases of measles; a fifth person also contracted the disease. Now, ma-

Some cite a discredited autism study to avoid shots. ny businesses in town have measles alerts in the windows. Missy Foster, 43, said she had not vaccinated her daughter, Tully, who is now 18 months old, because of concern that the M.M.R. vaccine — which stands for measles, mumps and rubella, or German measles — might be associated with autism. But as soon as Ms. Foster heard about the measles outbreak, she scheduled the vaccine. “We didn’t think this would explode again, but it did,” Ms. Foster said. “I want her to be protected.” Norm Warren, the manager of the Kearny supermarket, has changed his thinking toward

Kelly McMenimen said her son Tobias was not vaccinated because she did not want ‘‘toxins’’ in his body. Above, Dr. Eric Ball of Orange County, California, promotes shots.

those who do not vaccinate their children. “Before, I thought, ‘If you think your child will become autistic, fine.’ But now they’re pushing their beliefs on everybody, and I feel differently,” he said. “How many lives have been saved by vaccination?” Members of the anti-vaccine movement said the public backlash had terrified many parents. “People are now afraid they’re going to be jailed,” said Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a clearinghouse for resisters. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s gotten so out of hand, and it’s gotten so vicious.” In San Geronimo, California, a rural community of rolling hills and oak trees north of San Francisco, 40 percent of the students walking into Lagunitas Elementary School have not been inoculated against measles, according to the school’s figures. Kelly McMenimen, a Lagunitas parent, said she “meditated on it a lot” before deciding not to vaccinate her son Tobias, 8, against even “deadly or deforming diseases.” She said she did not want “so many toxins” entering the slender body of a brighteyed boy who loves math and geography. Tobias has endured chickenpox and whooping cough, she said. She considered a tetanus shot after he cut himself on a wire fence but decided against it: “He has such a strong immune system.” Ciel Lorenzen, another Lagunitas parent, said: “It’s good to explore alternatives rather than go with the panic of everyone around you. Vaccines don’t feel right for me and my family.”

Western governments have been wrong in supporting the large-scale conversion of plants into fuel and should reconsider that strategy, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute, a prominent research group in Washington. Turning plant matter into liquid fuel or electricity is so inefficient that the approach is unlikely ever to supply a substantial fraction of global energy demand, the report found. It added that continuing to pursue this strategy — which has already led to billions of dollars of investment — is likely to use up vast tracts of fertile land that could be devoted to helping feed the world’s growing population. Some biofuels do make sense, the report found, particularly those made from wastes like sawdust and cornstalks. But their potential is limited, and these fuels should be used in airplanes, for which there is no alternative power source that could reduce emissions. “I would say that many of the claims for biofuels have been dramatically exaggerated,” said Andrew Steer of the World Resources Institute. “There are other, more effective routes to get to a low-carbon world.” The report follows several years of rising concern among scientists about biofuel policies in the United States and Europe. Several studies have found that the policy has helped drive up global food prices, has worsened some types of air pollution and has done little to reduce overall emissions of carbon dioxide, the gas primarily responsible for global warming. In Europe, burning wood pellets to displace coal has become a fundamental strategy in the power industry. Millions of tons of pellets are being produced in the United States and shipped to Europe. Some groups argue that the continued growth of the wood-pellet industry is putting natural forests at risk. Some policies in the West go back at least a decade and were adopted on the basis of

scientific claims that turning plant material into fuel would help lower emissions of carbon dioxide. The basic theory related to biofuel policies was that, while burning such fuel does emit the gas, it would then be removed quickly from the atmosphere as plants grew and replaced those used to produce the fuel. That was considered a more sustainable approach than the burning of fossil fuels, which pulls carbon from deep underground and injects it into the atmosphere, trapping extra heat above the earth’s surface. Timothy D. Searchinger, of Princeton University in New Jersey and an author of the new report, said that more recent science had challenged some of the assumptions underpinning many of the pro-biofuel policies. If forests or grasses were grown in their place, that

Experts say turning plants into power has limited benefits. would pull carbon dioxide out of the air, storing it in tree trunks and soils and offsetting emissions more effectively than biofuels would do, he said. And biofuels are an inefficient way to convert sunlight to fuel, he said, meaning an immense amount of land would be required to supply significant global energy. Jason Hill of the University of Minnesota said newer types of biofuels made from crops planted specifically for that purpose may bring better results. Many of the pro-biofuel policies date to a period when other types of renewable energy were viewed as too expensive. But costs for wind and solar power have plummeted, and the report notes that for a given amount of land, solar panels are at least 50 times more efficient than biofuels at capturing the energy of sunlight in a useful form.

SETH PERLMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A report says using farmland to produce biofuels has led to higher food prices and done little to reduce emissions.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

ONLINE

New Goggles Add Layer to Our Over-Wired World Microsoft made a big announcement recently, revealing that Windows was about to be unleashed into the physical environment through a set of goggles called the HoloLens that superimposes the operating system on the ESSAY actual world. In one sense, it was heartening. Seeing mature companies adapt to a changed world is an interesting development. But something about Microsoft’s new technology is creepy, and it probably has less to do with the threat of holograms populating our everyday lives and more to do with something showing on a different screen. “Black Mirror” is a three-season, seven-part anthology series, which first appeared in 2011 on Channel 4 in Britain and recently became available on Netflix, eliciting a lot of provocative talk. The show shares DNA with “The Twilight Zone,” but is very much about the present future we are living through. Created by Charlie Brooker, a former video game reviewer, a writer for The Guardian and the

DAVID CARR

host of his own television show, the series uses technology as a way to reflect on who we are becoming in the screen-infested environments we move through. The black mirror of the title refers to the blank screens that live on our walls, on our desks and in our pockets. The show came to mind during a video demonstration of Microsoft’s HoloLens, because as screens have proliferated, the amount of actual, unencumbered reality we experience seems endangered. Our lives have been enriched by the Internet and all the devices — tablets and remotes and smartphones at our immediate reach — that allow us to play there, at least to a point. But “Black Mirror” asks fundamental questions about where this is all headed, not by creating an improbable dystopian future, but by hitting us right where we live. Its world is just one click away from the one in front of us. This is a satire that is built not on laughs but on a deep melancholy. In one episode, the prime minister is forced by purported terrorists to perform an unspeakable act while the en-

MICROSOFT

A rendering of what a HoloLens user might see of the real world when using the Microsoft hologram technology. tire public stares. In another, a man’s suspicions about his wife are on vivid display, because nothing is ever secret anymore. In all of the episodes, the act of watching — not doing — implicates the viewer. What is it about our current reality that is so insufficient that we feel compelled to augment or improve it? It has gotten to the point where even our dis-

Scrolling Through Museums

Art museums around the world are offering their collections online, along with features like the Met’s videos and blogs.

By KEN JOHNSON

If you want to know how museums are changing their philosophies and programs in a time of increasing financial pressure and the continuing rise of private museums, websites are the most visible and informative places to look. In 2013, the site of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis posted a white paper by Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, summing up discussions about the future of museums by art museum directors. In it he wrote, “The external force of the Internet and social media — combined with museums’ own efforts to create more interactive educational and exhibition programs — leave no doubt that the two-way relationship between the museum and its audience has the potential to reshape the future of art museums in ways not yet envisioned.” One thing is certain, museum websites have become much more useful. Recently the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York put its collection of more than 21,000 objects by more than 3,000 artists online in an easy-to-use format. It’s fun to scroll through to see who the favorites have been and to discover artists you have never heard of and wonder whatever became of them. Some sites, like the one for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also provide essays on particular pieces, like Pieter Bruegel

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

the Elder’s “The Harvesters” (1565). The Louvre’s website has an informative feature on the “Mona Lisa.” Accompanied by audio commentary, it shows details you wouldn’t be able to see in person — including the back of the painting. The Vatican’s site has a remarkable means of studying the Sistine Chapel from every angle. A future that is arriving now is the crosscurrent exchange between museums. A page at the site of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, about Rogier van der Weyden’s “Portrait of a Lady” (circa 1460), has an extensive discussion of the painting. But at the end, under the heading “Related Resources,” is something surprising: a link to an essay in the Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, “Burgundian Netherlands: Court Life and Patronage.” Sooner or later, all museum websites will be interconnected, so that any museum might take advantage of scholarship produced by any other. Museums are trying to expand and deepen audience engagement with blogs and other socially interactive programs. Where is all this going? The British Museum has an answer in its About Us page: “The website is not merely a source of information about the collection and the museum, but a natural

extension of its core purpose to be a laboratory of comparative cultural investigation.” In London, the Tate’s director, Nicholas Serota, predicted in 2009 that while museums may be rooted in the buildings they occupy, they “will address audiences across the world — a place where people across the world will have a conversation. Those institutions which take up this notion fastest and furthest will be the ones which have the authority in the future.” In “Tate Digital Strategy 2013-15: Digital as a Dimension of Everything” the document’s author, John Stack, the head of digital transformation at the Tate, noted “digital publications are expected to become a significant revenue stream in the future,” which could concern those who have been enjoying free online catalogs. The museum was once a sanctuary for quiet contemplation. But as the digital age permeates the museum, how does that influence the ways art is seen, thought about and valued? It’s hard to argue against education, access and engagement by any means possible, but something is in danger of being lost: the idea of coming to the work of art naked, disarmed and open to whatever it expresses in its actual, nonvirtual being.

tractions require distractions. No media viewing experience seems complete without a second screen, where we can connect with our friends on social media or in instant messages about what we are watching. It’s not just those raised on screens who are prone to distraction. As adults, we make “friends” who are not actually friends, develop “followers”

composed of people who would not follow us out of a room, and “like” things whether we really like them or not. What matters more, the experience or the media representation of it? The president of the United States is displaying mastery over new media, including Medium, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit. Perhaps his involvement in these platforms is distracting him from the fact he has been less successful at the actual act of governing. I was freezing the other day and resolved to buy a better pair of gloves. I went on Amazon, typed in “warm men’s gloves” and ordered a pair. But what if I could have — using a HoloLens — tried on several pairs to see how they fit and looked? If Windows becomes the operating system not just for someone’s desktop but for the world, how much will someone actually have to venture out into it? By most accounts, Microsoft has created a technology that blends the real and the virtual into a helpful hybrid by overlaying a screen on what we see. One wonders if more screen time is what we really need.

The Rise to Vine Fame Of ‘That French Guy’ By NICK BILTON

Mention “that French Guy” to teenagers today, and they will know exactly which French guy you are talking about. Jerome Jarre, they will tell you, is a 24-year-old who has become famous for making comical six-second videos on Vine, where he has eight million followers. The Vines include Mr. Jarre walking up to strangers in the street and hugging them, or hanging out with his best friend, a squirrel — though he pronounces it “sqiwwell” with his French accent. His clips have been viewed more than one billion times. He is so famous that when he organized a meet-up in São Paulo, Brazil, the police were called in to quell the crowd of thousands. But until last summer, he was essentially homeless in New York, sleeping on an office floor. Jerome Jarre was born in the French countryside, and raised by his single mother, Agnès Jarre. She said her son had a fierce entrepreneurial spirit, dropping out of college at 19 to set off to China, then Toronto, starting a half-dozen companies that all failed. “Through all of this, I felt like I had no purpose,” Mr. Jarre said. Then one day, an app called Vine was released. Mr. Jarre downloaded it and knew immediately there was something there. One evening in a Toronto bar, while in the restroom, he pulled out his phone and did a goofy dance in front of the mirror. “By the time I got back to my seat, I had 16 likes,” he said. “I was so amazed that 16 people I had never met before had seen and liked my video.” This is when he learned the goofier his clips,

the more people enjoyed them. In 2013, Mr. Jarre bought a bus ticket to New York, arriving with $400 to his name and two small suitcases. He spoke broken English, which he’d taught himself by listening to the audiobook “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk, on how to turn a social media hobby into a Jerome business. Jarre “I would wake up each morning and spend the entire day out in the street making Vines,” he said. A video he posted asking “why is everybody afraid of love?” went viral. He was asked to appear on the TV show “Ellen,” and his Vine account started racking up followers by the tens of thousands each day. He then struck a deal with Mr. Vaynerchuk to start an advertising agency that focused on Vine stars. Walking around Manhattan’s Union Square recently, Mr. Jarre was stopped every few steps by squealing teenagers. Mr. Jarre recently started a show on Snapchat, which is part art project and part motivational talk show. The actor Robert De Niro, who recorded his first Vine video with Mr. Jarre during a film festival last year and was astounded by the attention it got, is providing office space. What makes Mr. Jarre so loved by his fans is that he is relentlessly positive. “Everyone is looking for a purpose in life,” he said. “I’ve learned that we have to create that purpose for ourselves.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

ARTS & DESIGN

When the Artworks Are Not on the Wall By HILARIE M. SHEETS

One recent evening at the New Museum in New York, the elevator door opened onto a fifth-floor gallery with a pole-dancing class in action. Some visitors looked confused and headed for the exit, but many more crowded around the edges of the floor watching the dance collaborators Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly learn strenuous and hypnotic moves — the kind more often practiced by strippers or teenage subway performers. The pair are artists in residence in the museum’s “Choreography” season, in which they are exploring how race, class and sexuality intersect in pole dancing. Their research culminated in an opening in early February incorporating dancers of all stripes — subway and exotic included — rotating on tandem poles. Trained in experimental theater and ballet, Gerard & Kelly are migrating from dance venues to the contemporary art

Recognizing dance or just using it to attract visitors? world in search of bigger audiences, new patrons and the intellectual support of curators, a shift that scores of performing artists are also making. While art museums have dabbled in live performance since the 1960s, “the real estate has changed,” said the choreographer Ralph Lemon, whose recent work blurs the line between theater and gallery installation. “Museums are now offering performance spaces beyond just the gardens and basements and unannounced hallways.” A turning point in the intersection of visual and performing art came in 2010, when Marina Abramovic held silent court at the Museum of Modern Art before 560,000 visitors. The trend is proving a sure way to attract visitors. “Live performance encourages audiences to be more frequent visitors to your building,” said Sam Miller, president of the Lower

Manhattan Cultural Council. “In terms of being responsive to what artists are doing today and bringing in a more diverse audience, it makes sense.” But some wonder if such spectacle isn’t a cheap and quick way to arouse interest. What are the hourly wages of a dancer compared with the soaring costs of insuring and transporting fine art? Still, the new Whitney Museum in downtown Manhattan, designed by Renzo Piano, will have a dedicated theater. There will be a sprung dance floor and retractable seating in prime real estate on the third floor and a multimedia gallery on the fifth. Each gallery will have pine wood floors over neoprene pads to protect performers’ feet. At the Museum of Modern Art, which is under expansion, “performance will heavily impact the spaces we’re designing,” said Stuart Comer, chief curator of the department of media and performance art. “A good number of museums are really looking at dance and saying how can this art form, which up until now has mostly been presented in theaters and thought of as a kind of entertainment, be integrated into art history,” said Philip Bither, senior curator of performing arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Brian Rogers, artistic director of the Chocolate Factory, a performing arts space in Long Island City, is skeptical, recalling that in the 1960s, dances by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown at the Whitney helped usher in a new era but fell out of fashion, in part because of the difficulty of collecting such work. The economics of “acquiring” an ephemeral performance work is something museums and artists are still negotiating. The Guggenheim Museum in New York has acquired Gerard & Kelly’s “Timelining,” designed for couples in a variety of intimate relationships, which will be shown in the rotunda from June through September. The artists created guidelines for its presentation, even for performers’ pay. “The museum got a certificate of authenticity as they would with a Sol LeWitt,” Mr. Gerard said.

ICA BOSTON

More museums are welcoming dancers. A performance at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston.

ANDREW THOMAS HUANG; BELOW, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Held Hostage by a Heartbreak By JON PARELES

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — It wasn’t exactly a beach day. It was a chilly, damp November morning with a drizzle that turned intermittently to rain. Björk called it “sniffle weather”; she and a video crew were at Grotta, a lighthouse on a spit of land on the coast here that she has often rented for stretches of isolated songwriting. The tide and fleeting winter daylight gave her only a few hours to make the video that was to turn “Stonemilker,” the first song on her new album, “Vulnicura,” into the 3-D, 360-degree virtual-reality finale of the Björk retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that is scheduled to open on March 8. Björk was, as she has so often placed herself throughout her career, on the cusps of nature and technology, raw emotion and complex artifice. She often calls herself a “pop musician,” but that’s a humble understatement for an artist who, over the past three decades, has constantly experimented with sounds, structures and images around the elemental communication of her gentle, searing voice. “Vulnicura,” Björk wrote on her website, is a “complete heartbreak” album; its songs plunge into the estrangement, separation and self-healing that came with her breakup with the artist Matthew Barney. “Usually I don’t really talk about my private life,” Björk said. “But with this album, there’s no two ways about what it is. I separated during this album, ended a 13-year relationship, and it’s probably the toughest thing I’ve done.” She added: “You feel like you’re having open-heart surgery, with knives sticking in, so everything is out, and you have this urgency and immediacy. It has to happen right now, that you have to express yourself. And part of it is, you always feel like you belong to another power. It’s not yours, it’s like the universal heartbreak energy current — dot com,” she said with a laugh, “that is taking you hostage.” Throughout Björk’s solo career, her music has merged the

vently physical, defined strings and vocals. The songs on “Vulnicura” are both premeditated — Björk writes her own string arrangements — and resolutely unguarded, with Björk’s voice open and exposed. “I almost didn’t fix anything,” she said. The album’s first six songs are a chronology of the breakup: feeling the partnership crumble and, eventually, coming to terms with it. “At the time I was really grumpy, like a teenager, because I couldn’t Björk’s new album is drenched with stand how typical it was,” she said. “But it is the raw emotions that followed the true, when you are going breakup of her 13-year relationship through it, the songs just with the artist Matthew Barney. pour out of you.” The bleakest, bravest song on “Vulnicura” is “Black worldly and the otherworldly Lake,” which is dated in the alin ever-mutable ways. She has made albums extrapolating from bum booklet as “2 months after” club dance beats (“Post”), conthe separation. “My soul torn apart, my spirit is broken,” Björk structed almost entirely of vocal sings, and the strings hover besounds (“Medulla”), or shaped by the plinks of harp and music hind her in open, austere chords. boxes (“Vespertine”). Her 2011 When verses end, the chord susalbum, “Biophilia,” featured an tains, lasting longer than the Icelandic choir as well as one-ofverse. It’s harrowing and deliba-kind mechanical instruments, erate. which will be displayed and Yet as Björk recorded the alheard in MoMA’s lobby. bum, “Black Lake” took careful But this serious artist can also technological shape. Along with cut loose. After countless video “Stonemilker,” it is part of the takes in the cold, Björk invited “new commission” of the Mothe crew and some Reykjavik MA exhibition. At the sessions, friends to her home for a wrap each of the 30 string players was party that was also, it turned out, individually miked; MoMA is her 49th birthday party. building a room with an array of Her house is cozy, with starspeakers that will allow visitors to approach each track separatetling touches of nature brought indoors: a spherical chandelier ly for a spatial experience. made of white feathers, a stone The show will have visitors staircase with a balustrade built wearing headphones and walkfrom (unendangered) minke ing through each of Björk’s adult whale bones. Her second-floor solo albums in a room of its own, studio overlooks a seascape panlooking at costumes and videos and hearing a song through loorama: a cone-shaped mountain, a black sand beach, an evcation-based triggering that will place them within the recorder-changing Icelandic sky. As she was about to play music ings. The audio guide will also on her laptop, she paused. “That include a fabulistic tale of Björk’s cloud is crazy!” she said. “It’s itinerary. like a fuzzy triangle, and then “It will be some cacophony of all the other clouds have definisound,” Björk said. “There’s obtion.” It was like her new songs; viously some risk involved. But if electronic sounds with indistinct it’s not dangerous, it’s not worth edges are set against the ferdoing.”

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

‘CBN bans dollar resale to boost naira’ STABILITY Apex bank pledges to stabilise naira

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned banks last Friday from reselling dollars bought at its currency auction to other banks, dealers said, a move aimed at curbing speculation in the beleaguered naira

currency. Apex bank spokesman Ibrahim Muazu confirmed the CBN sold dollars in a special intervention last Friday and said it will continue such sales on a “need basis” to satisfy demand in the interbank market and curb speculative attacks, which he blamed for the naira’s weakness. Muazu said the bank was not planning to de-

value the currency again after last November’s 8 percent cut, aimed at preserving foreign exchange reserves, but was studying dollar demand closely. “Our target is to stabilise the market in the interest of investors and the economy. We will do everything to ensure that we meet demand,” Muazu told Reuters. “It’s not likely we would

raise the band on the naira any time soon. We are looking deep into the areas of demand, if speculators are not there then the situation would return to normal,” he said. The naira has crashed through the psychologically important level of N200 to the dollar last week in a rout triggered by weak oil prices and escalating tension over the postponement of a

Six winners emerge in Sterling Bank’s promo

nother set of six lucky winners has emerged in the Sterling Bank Plc’s ongoing Gunners Promo. The third draw according to a statement from the lender, was held at the Bank’s Corporate Head Office in Lagos at the weekend. The six lucky winners will have the privilege of an all-expense paid trip to watch the home match involving Arsenal Football Club and Liverpool on the 4th of April, 2015. This according to the statement, brings to 18, the number of lucky winners that have emerged in the three draws held. The next two draws holding in March and April will

produce another set of 12 winners bringing the total number of winners to 30. Sterling Bank explained that the promo, which kicked off in September 2014, would run till May 2015, and winners would emerge based on monthly draws to be held during the duration of the promo. The promo is designed to reward customers for their patronage and loyalty to the brand over the years in keeping with the brand’s promise of “putting customers first.” The six lucky winners are Abubakar Hallihru, Obi Nwaogwugwu, Lawal Kazeem, and Momodu Francis Aleogho. Others are Bala Belief and Mu-

ritala Agbolahan. An excited Nwaogwugwu, who was called during the draws, expressed his gratitude to the Bank for fulfilling its promise to reward owners of Arsenal Accounts. Although he was initially skeptical, he explained “what is happening to me can only be a dream and l hope to wake up in the Emirates Stadium”. The same excitement was also exhibited by Messrs. Kazeem, Agbolahan and Momodu. Mr. Shina Atilola, the Bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications stated that the Bank came up with the promo to reward customers for their loyalty, and encour-

age other football lovers to share the one-customer experience. He explained that the Sterling Gunners Promo is open to new and existing customers. “Members of the banking public can open any of the Bank’s Sterling-Arsenal products such as Arsenal Kick-Off, Arsenal Premium or the Current account product – Arsenal Platinum. To qualify for the draw, a customer must maintain a minimum balance of N30, 000 for a period of three months. Lucky winners will enjoy a 3-day all-expense paid trip covering return flights, match tickets and accommodation”, he explained.

Economic Indicators 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

Although the dollar sale last Friday was meant to calm nerves, dealers said it made twoway trading inactive, undermining Nigeria’s credibility as a smoothly functioning capital market, and could trigger its ejection from a JP Morgan emerging market bond index. In the year after Nigeria joined the index in October 2012, foreign holdings of its bonds jumped from $1.2 billion to $5.4 billion, but JP Morgan said last month Nigeria’s inclusion was under review because of a lack of market liquidity. Ejection from the index would trigger major capital outflows because investors who track it would have to sell Nigerian bonds. That would exacerbate a budget crunch by removing a source of funding and further hammer the currency. Two large sales were done at N198.50 to the dollar, totalling $40.8 million, before market close, which dealers said was part of the CBN’s intervention. It has burned through more than $110 million a day trying to defend the naira’s target band.

‘Enterprise Bank account creates opening for jobless youths’

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

presidential election in Africa’s biggest economy. The CBN has pledged to stabilise the naira and has been deploying various measures. Last Friday, trading was delayed until to allow dealers to submit demand for dollars to the CBN, the head of the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) said. The banking watchdog then injected dollars into the market in what David Adepoju, president of the FMDA - the club of 40 banks, discount houses and brokerages that regulates the market - described as “a special forex auction”. But dealers said the apex bank then banned lenders from selling dollars sourced from it. The CBN had said the move would not be a one-off, Adepoju said. “There is no longer price discovery on the naira. With the special auction you should be able to buy and sell, no matter where the market is,” one dealer said. The CBN did not immediately comment. The bank chief said last Thursday there was “no need to panic” about the currency’s plunge.

orried by the growing number of unemployed graduates in the country and the need to aggressively drive the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment of the economy, Enterprise Bank Limited has introduced the Graduate Empowerment Savings Account (GESA). GESA according to a statement from the lender, provides the platform for university undergraduates and graduates to think of more creative ways of becoming selfemployed rather than perpetually waiting and hoping to be employed. The product, which is a component of the Enterprise Graduate Empowerment Scheme (EGES) that was launched last year, enables entrepreneurialminded graduates to redirect their destiny by opening an account with only N5, 000. Once that is done, the individual stand the chance of procuring a loan to establish a small scale business of his choice, which automatically takes him away from the labour market. Aside from that, the product is designed to help Small and Medium

Enterprises (SMEs) at that infantile stage to firmly position for future growth. This effectively removes the syndrome of SMEs being unable to access loans as start-ups. GESA according to the statement, changes the story for the young entrepreneurs by leveraging the technical knowledge and experience of the bank in SME lending to dislodge the encumbrances that hinder them from taking bank loans. Enterprise Bank said the scheme is planned in such a way that even after the loan disbursement, Enterprise Bank ensures a sustained growth of the business through advisory and capacity building programmes via its partnerships with business schools and entrepreneurial training centres around the country. Subscribers of GESA according to the bank, can access a maximum loan of N3million. Other benefits that the young graduate will enjoy include Internet banking and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) facilities, as well as free monthly estatement of accounts as requested by the account owner.

Business | Issue of the Week

EMBARRASSMENT Unscrupulous politicians now have a reference point Sunday Ojeme

n the past few years, the political dispensation in Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge of observers whose sole mission is to whip politicians into line as well as ensure that elections and all other political engagements are conducted fairly according to the provisions of the constitution. Buoyed by traits of indiscipline and the urge to clinch political power through any means, Nigerian politicians have often been humbled to maintain law and order mainly by opposition from independent observers comprising vocal individuals, members of the civil society organisations, academics and other bodies and institutions that have grown over the years to become the mouthpiece of the masses. Big brother NLC Among these vibrant bodies is the Nigeria Labour Congress, an institution that has gone beyond its brief of protecting the interest of workers to include engaging the government in political and other critical issues as they affect the citizenry. Having emerged a strong force and one capable of holding the government accountable, the Nigerian masses have come to defer before every leadership of the congress while seeing it as a role model and most reliable body to be counted upon in the day of trouble. Apart from workers in the private and public sectors, students, academia, pensioners, market men and women and all other bodies look up to the NLC to drive their agitations especially where the government appears to have shortchanged them. With the general elections fast approaching, the NLC has been one of the most prominent bodies Nigerians and observers across the world eagerly and anxiously await to guide politicians and the political process to success. Politricking However, this huge expectation and respect might just have crumbled in the eyes of many following the crisis that rocked the union’s 11th Delegates’ Conference in Abuja last week where the proposed election into the body’s leadership was suddenly suspended over obvious cheating and allegations of electoral malpractice. According to reports that emanated from the venue of the bungled election, the problem started with the disqualification of some of the contestants who filed in badly filled forms as well as those who suddenly stepped down for other candidates Further intrigues followed when one of the top contenders, Igwe Achese, who is the President of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) publicly

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NLC crisis: Tragic boomerang on a whistleblower

Ajaero

announced his withdrawal in support of Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) General Scretary, Joe Ajaero. Besides Achese, the General Secretary of Texile Workers and former Vice President of NLC, Issa Aremu, also withdrew from contesting for the post of vice president. The withdrawal of Achese and Aremu thus streamlined the contest for the position of president between Ajaero and the president of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWHUN), Ayuba Wabba. Confusion However, the election, which was said to have commenced on a peaceful note suddenly took a new turn when the delegates from NUEE were voting and allegedly discovered that the names of some candidates appeared in some of the ballot booklets in more than one places. This led to the disruption of the process, resulting in delegates raising their voices at one another with some of them getting close to throwing punches. Not done with the disruption, delegates loyal to one of the candidates hijacked the ballot boxes and other election materials, throwing the venue of the conference into confusion. More disheartening is the allegation that the outgoing president, Abdulwahed Omar, insisted on continuing as the president to enable him conduct a fresh election that would be acceptable by all before his term would expire in March. This was, however, rejected by Ajaero and Achese, who stated that Omar should vacate the seat and allow the General Sec-

Aremu

Omar

retary to run the congress till an interim leadership was put in place. They claimed that Omar had messed up the electoral process and that if the election had been concluded, he would have since handed over to the next president and vacated the seat.

Imagine a situation, where Ayuba Wabba’s name appeared on a ballot booklet twice or thrice. It’s obvious that NLC wanted Wabba to win the election against the choice of other delegates

Omar’s tenure has ended In the process, Ajaero and Achese left the venue of the meeting, describing the meeting being led by Omar as illegal, and that they would not be parties to it. They insisted that there was no more NAC in place after the stalemate, saying that they would not sit under the leadership of Omar. Achese said: “I don’t know what to call it— mistake, manipulation or well-articulated effort to rig the election in favour of a particular candidate? “Imagine a situation, where Ayuba Wabba’s name appeared on a ballot booklet twice or thrice. It’s obvious that NLC wanted Wabba to win the election against the choice of other delegates.” He pointed out that the outgoing executive violated existing constitution of NLC by not dissolving the executive council led by the outgoing president, having the prior knowledge of the irregularities that would be experienced during the poll. Wabba, however, said the disruption of the election was intentional, adding that this was done when they realised that they cannot win the election after about 23 unions had voted. He said the election was going on smoothly, when suddenly the other group disrupted it; and he pointed out that the

event and activities in the last three days preceding the election clearly showed that the other group had plans to make the election inconclusive. It would be recalled that prior to the election, report had emanated that the process would be marred by crisis as some members of the executive were bent on denying certain candidates the opportunity to participate. The air of implosion was first noticed after the Conference Credential Committee (CCC) released list of contestants dully cleared for the election. Some leaders of the private sectors unions accused the public sector union of betrayal and fielding candidate for NLC presidency instead of leaving it for the private sector unions to slug it out in line with the norms. The Omar-led executive was accused of working with some officials of NLC to influence the election by ensuring that its preferred candidate succeeded him. Although the General Secretary of NLC, Mr. Peter Ozo-Esor, denied the allegations of external influence, last week embarrassing engagement proved to a large extent that the leadership of the union had an agenda, which unfortunately they could not execute. From the foregoing, it is clear that the display of shame by the leadership of NLC has become an albatross which the body would not only carry for a long time but will also become a contemptuous reference point by politicians who are bent on doing things wrongly especially now that the general election is deliberately being driven into crisis.

Business |Stock Watch

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

PZ Cussons: Economy takes toll Share price movement of PZ Cussons Plc

EBBING Market pundits forecast further slide in profits

2014 Mar 31

N31.10

Apr 30

N36.00

Chris Ugwu

May 31

N36.00

hough the manufacturing sector of the Nigerian economy appears to be gradually bouncing back to reckoning based on the achievements recorded in the sector in the last couple of years, it is still shrouded in a mixture of positive and negative challenges. This is because the economy generally has continued to face some enormous socio-economic challenges. There is no doubt that the security challenges in the North Eastern part of the country with the attendance consequences of loss of lives and properties, depletion of fiscal buffers, dwindling foreign reserves, battered naira, erratic supply of public electricity, poor infrastructures, among others, have remained a thorn to the business operating environment. While some companies were able to successfully weather the storm notwithstanding the inclement business environment, others were not. PZ Cussons Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading personal and household companies listed on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), got its fair share as its financials have continued to decline due to the drop in oil price and continued unrest in northern Nigeria that have resulted in a decline in sales in that region. Market analysts have also predicted that the company’s profit was likely to decline further following a disappointing start this year. And just as expected, the company’s Q2 financials released at the weekend showed that the manufacturing firm recorded 37.82 per cent decline in net earnings. Just as other quoted firms in Nigeria are facing depression in share prices, market sentiment for the shares of PZ Cussons has dwindled relatively due to challenging environment faced by the real sector of the economy. The company believes that a potential further volatility in the currency and the upcoming general elections in its core market, Nigeria, could be a key contributing factor to the depletion of bottom line despite the introduction of high margin products such as the new premier range, Premier Cool Deo, international brand Carex antibacterial hand wash and the relaunch of Morning Fresh and its variants. The share price, which closed at N31.10 per share on March 30, 2014, has recorded a dip in growth. When the closing bell rang last Friday, the company’s share price stood at N26.99, a decline of N4.11 or 15.22 per cent year-to-date.

Jun 30

N37.40

Jul 31

N39.00

Aug 31

N35.00

Sept 30

N35.00

Oct 31

N25.41

Nov 30

N28.50

Dec 31

N23.80

2015

MD/CEO, Christos Giannopoulos

Financials PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc had ended year 2014 in the red with a report of 9.15 per cent decline in pre-tax profits for the financial year ended May 31, 2014 In a filing with the Exchange, the company’s pre-tax profit fell to N 6.94 billion during the year under review as against N7.65 billion recorded the previous year, representing a decline of 9.15 per cent. Its revenue rose to N72.90 billion 2014 from 71.34 billion naira a year earlier. The Nigerian unit of British household products maker also reported a 30.8 per cent decline in pre-tax profit for the first quarter 2015, ended August 30, 2014. In a filing with the Exchange, the company’s pre-tax profit fell to N 872.29 million during the period under review as against N1.261 billion recorded the previous year. This indicated a decline of 30.8 per cent. Turnover also dipped to N15.019 billion compared with N15.066 billion in the same period of last year. In addition to the weaker sales, a gross margin contraction of -128bps y/y to 27.3 per cent and a seven per cent y/y rise in operating expenses weighed on profitability during the period. The negative trends continued during the second quarter as PZ Cussons recorded a 37.82 per cent decline in net earnings during the second quarter 2014 ended November 30, 2014. In a filing with the Exchange, the company’s post-tax profit fell to N1.441 billion during the period under review against N2.317 billion recorded the pre-

vious year. This represented a decline of 37.82 per cent. Profit before tax stood at N1.941 billion as against 3.077 billion posted the previous year accounting for a drop of 36.90 per cent. Turnover dipped to N31.659 billion during the period, compared with N32.460 billion in the same period of last year. Profit deflators The company said the violence in parts of Nigeria is causing only limited disruption to business in what is one of the company’s most important countries. Most of PZ’s Nigerian factories are located in the south, while the conflict that has left thousands dead is mostly confined to the north east of the African nation, according to Chief Financial Officer, Brandon Leigh. “It does impact business, but it doesn’t impact all of the business,” Leigh said by phone from London recently after the company reported a drop in firsthalf sales and profit. According to reports, about 30 per cent of PZ’s sales and a quarter of profit comes from Nigeria, where at least 65 people were killed in an attack penultimate Sunday by Islamist militants in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno. “Next month’s presidential election in the country will be a key contributing factor to fullyear results, Chairman of the company, Richard Harvey, said in a statement. “Post election tends to be a rebound in confidence. We expect,

The violence affecting parts of Nigeria is causing only limited disruption to business in what is one of the company’s most important countries

Jan 30

N29.64

Feb 13

N26.99

by the end of February, to have business as usual,” Leigh said. Analysts at FBN Capital believe that the naira’s devaluation during the quarter more than offset any benefits accruing from subdued crude palm oil prices (CPO), a key raw material. They noted that the decline in y/y sales and profits in Nigeria were mainly due to difficult trading conditions, insecurity in the North and the naira devaluation. According to the analysts, these factors continue to offset meaningful growth in the south of the country, especially in the electrical goods business and food segment joint ventures. Analysts’ ratings/outlook On the back of the weakerthan-expected results, analysts at FBN Capital said they have cut their 2015-16E-earnings forecasts by around 20 per cent and their price target by 13 per cent to N16.2. “Our new price target implies a potential downside of 40 per cent by end-May 2016. At current levels, PZ shares are trading on a 2015E P/E multiple of 28.6x for flattish EPS growth in 2016E. Although PZ shares have gained 13 per cent ytd, outperforming the ASI by 32 per cent, they have declined by around four per cent since the results were released. We expect the recent downward trend to persist. We reiterate our underperform rating on the stock,” they said. The experts also said that they expect to see continued weakness in the home and personal care segment, which they estimate accounts for around 40 per cent of PZ’s revenues. Intense competition in the southern Nigeria, insecurity in the north and softer consumer spending, were the primary headwinds highlighted by management. Going forward, in H2 2015, the experts believe that the recent volatility of the naira and weak consumer confidence, are likely to weigh on earnings. Given these, the experts said that they expect EPS in 2015E to decline by around 18 per cent y/y.

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has set fresh condition that must be met by any insurance firm seeking its approval to open overseas branch. The new condition aimed at deepening insurance penetration in the country requires any firm seeking to open offshore offices to first open four branches in Nigeria. Commissioner for Insurance and CEO of NAICOM Mr. Fola Daniel disclosed this at an intercreative session. He said: “We are encouraging insurance companies to open more branches. We are going to make it a condition that any request to open branch in Ghana or elsewhere outside the country, we will decline except the firm can open four branches in Nigeria.” Besides, Daniel said that the commission would work with with relevant government agencies to ensure it becomes mandatory for all those seeking government contracts to present their compulsory insurance certificates as one of the criteria for qualifying to apply for such contracts. This, he said, was one way of enforcing compulsory insurance launched five years back under its Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI). He said that the police and other security outfits, which would have played active role in enforcing compulsory insurance were already overstretched due to limited human capacity. Daniel said one of the reasons the commission would not use the services of law enforcement agents to enforce the compulsory insurance is because the police was already over stretched and lacked the capacity to enforce the compulsory insurance regulation. Compulsory insurance The five compulsory insurances slated by government for enforcement are Third Party Motor Insurance, Group Life Insurance, Occupiers Liability Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance and compulsory Insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction. Meanwhile, an electronic platform for the regulation of the industry will be fully deployed by the middle of the year. It was gathered that insurance operators would file their 2014 accounts through the e-platform that is presently being test run. Director, Research Strategy and Information Technology, NAICOM, Adamu Balanti, said that the unique policy identification system is to monitor and account for all policies issued. The system will reduce to the barest minimum the prevalence of improper records regarding policies issued, and NAICOM will be able to track the activities and revenues being made by insurance companies and brokers. Balanti said: “This system is to build an integration point for the

Insurance

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NAICOM unveils new rule on offshore licence

Daniel

MD, Mansard, Yetunde Ilori

MD,CHI, Eddie Efekoha

MD, LASACO, Olusola Ladipo Ajayi MD, AIICO, Edwin Igbiti

various stakeholders involved in insurance policy issuance, generate and provide a unique identification number for every policy issued in order to track and provide relevant statistics on them. “It would help develop a capacity in NAICOM to record all policies issued by Nigerian insurance companies, ensure proper accountability of all premium returns by insurance companies, capture all businesses done by every broker through the underwriter, ensure proper accountability of all insurance levies received from brokers, provide easy access to data regarding policies issued and support analysis and policy-based decision making.” According to the details, the portal provides a single point of access for all NAICOM services, validate the authenticity of insurance policies and accessible from any location within Nigeria. The system should be able to interact or communicate with other systems/users such as FRSC, Police and VIO. Identification number Balanti added, “We want to identify each individual insur-

MD, Niger Insurance, Kola Adedeji

We are going to make it a condition that any request to open branch in Ghana or elsewhere outside the country, we will decline except the firm can open four branches in Nigeria

ance policy issued in the country; this is why we are developing what we called - Unique Policy Identifier (UPI). With it, each insurance policy document issue in the country will have a unique identification number. The number will be used to identify that document. “We are also developing a database of that identification number so that anybody in the country can query the database to confirm if the policy document before him or her is genuine or not. We are hoping that in the next few years, we will get it out,” he added. He pointed out that the initiative cut across all insurance product lines, adding that all policies procured by the public must have this unique number. He said that the concept is not a duplication of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID) being promoted by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), stressing that the NIA is collaborating with NAICOM on the project. “We would not allow a situation where a section of the industry has made a huge investment

on a project; we will come up with something to stop it. We would collaborate with them to solve the problem of fake insurance, which is giving the industry a bad image,” he added. Balanti noted that the number will be issued from a central place, adding that NAICOM is moving to a situation where its information and telecommunications will continue to interface with those of the operators so, that as the operators issue policies, their systems interact with that of the commission seamlessly. IT policy He disclosed that the commission is developing an information and technology policy for the industry that would put the operators on the page with the commission. “That document would ensure that we have a minimum standard for everybody. In fact, the draft for the policy has been done, every soon, we would form industry committee that would look at that, harmonise it and make input to produce the final copy,” he added.

Business | Insurance

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

PROSPECT Firm eyes Nigeria high internet penetration

outh African comparison website, Click n Compare, which sources and provides affordable product options to consumers, is setting its eyes on the Nigerian market, especially the banking and insurance sectors. Launched in November 2013, Click n Compare was founded by Ryan Marx, formerly of e-commerce company, Zando, with funding from Silvertree Capital. The site sources and provides affordable product options to South Africans in many categories, including mobile, broadband, banking, insurance, travel and lifestyle. It offers users side-by-side comparisons to enable them make informed de-

S’African firm eyes Nigerian insurance, banking sectors cisions. “Thus far, these various operations have been working well, with broadband being the most successful sales vertical,” Marx told Disrupt Africa. “We would love to reach the point of being a “onestop shop” where viewers can read tips and advice, as well as the latest news, on all our categories and then make an informed decision to purchase their much-needed insurance, cellphone contract, or broadband package.” It is a strategy that has served the company well until now, with Click n Compare having established a sales department and call centre made up of over 20 agents, as well as a website marketing department.

“While still exuding an atmosphere of a startup company, Click n Compare is well on its way to becoming both profitable and sustainable,” Marx said. The goal for 2015 is expansion to Nigeria, though Marx said any product launched in the West African country would need a slightly different focus. “Nigeria is an emerg-

ing market with the highest internet penetration on the continent and with a lack of competition,” he said. “We aim to focus that more on the financial services like insurance and banking, as opposed to our other categories in mobile and broadband.” Marx believes Click n Compare has become the lead comparison website in South Africa – it has

over 100,000 subscribers – mainly due to the fact it sets out to compare multiple products and services as opposed to focusing on just one, as other sites tend to do. “The website also focuses on those products and services that have become essential assets within modern-day society. Thus, Click n Compare sets out to offer a convenient user-friendly

platform where the viewer is able to set themselves up with must-have banking, insurance, mobile, broadband and lifestyle products and services,” he said. The company makes money through lead generation, and its call centre which closes deals on behalf of the provider. The website also hosts strategically placed advertisements.

Prudential, ICICI may sell stake in insurance JV

rudential and India’s ICICI Bank may sell stake in insurance Joint Venture at $5.8 billion valuation. British insurer, Prudential and Indian lender, ICICI Bank, have reportedly initiated a process to sell a 5 per cent stake in their India life insurance joint venture -- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. The planned stake sale has drawn interest from sovereign funds, pension funds and other financial investors, Mint reported. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been mandated to bring in investors. A deal could value ICICI Pru at anywhere between $4.84 billion (£3.15 billion, $4.24 billion) and $5.81bn, The Economic Times reported. A deal could be a precursor for an initial public offering (IPO) at some later date. A deal could also be an attempt to discover a price at which Prudential could raise its stake in the joint venture, India’s largest private life insurer by sum assured and premium income. A rule change, if passed by both houses of the Indian parliament, will allow Prudential, which owns 26 per cent of ICICI Pru, to increase its participation to 49 per cent. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in late December, employed a rarely-used executive order to implement insurance and coal policy changes,

displaying his tenacity to overhaul Asia’s thirdlargest economy despite political opposition in parliament. Under the executive order, known as an ordinance, foreign firms can increase their participation in insurance joint ventures to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, a potential lifeline for a sector starved of capital and bogged down by regulations.

L-R: Head, Employee Services, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, Mr. Kolawole Amusa; Group Head, Central Processing Centre, Mr. Maroof Busari; Vice Principal, Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home, Akoka Lagos, Mrs. Adetoun Sadiq; one of the teachers of the Home, Mrs. Grace Efunwole; Team Lead, CSR and Sustainability of FCMB, Mrs. Temitayo Ade-Peters and Head, Treasury Operations, Ms. Doyin Dada, during a visit by staff of FCMB to the Home in Lagos…yesterday

embers of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) will tomorrow meet with the management of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) in the first edition of the 2015 Members’ Evening. The monthly meeting hosted at different times by insurance firms at the NCRIB secretariat is meant to extend the frontiers of their operations and break new grounds in their relationship with the brokers. A statement made available to New Telegraph said the hosting of brokers under the aegis of the NCRIB by IGI Plc would be quite symbolic, given the fact that it would be the first edition of the Council’s Members’ Evening in 2015 and would be playing host to over 500 brokers within Lagos and its environ. The event would be a winwin event for both IGI Plc and insurance brokers as it would facilitate harmonious relationship between them. Brokers constitute a crucial chain in the insurance industry in Nigeria, given the enormous clientele control. The IGI team would be led

Members’ Evening: IGI presents scorecard to brokers

to the event by its Managing Director, Mr. Rotimi Fashola, a Chartered Insurer who is expected to intimate brokers with the new policy direction of the company, among other issues. The IGI Group, which has shareholders’ funds in excess of N31 billion and assets base in excess of N45 billion, with subsidiaries and strategic

investments in other diverse sectors, notably: Real Estate, Banking, Telecommunications, Mining, Construction, Waste Management and Engineering. IGI has been described by investors and its customers as a dependable ally with all its widest range of tailor-made Life and Non-Life Insurance protection: Motor, Oil and

Gas, Marine and Aviation, Pensions, Life Assurance and Financial Advisory Services and much more. IGI was incorporated as a limited liability company on October 31, 1991 and commenced operation in January 1992, bringing with it a fresh breath of dynamism and innovation into the Nigerian insurance industry.

Insurance renewals: Axa to set out previous premiums

xa will become the first big insurance company to remind customers in their renewal letters how much they were charged in the previous year. At the moment customers are not usually told what their last premium was, making a quick comparison difficult.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking at whether renewal notices should change so policyholders can see if their premiums The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has devised its own proposals. The FCA told BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours that it was looking at what type of in-

formation customers should be getting from insurers in the future, and it will publish its findings in the next few months. Insurers often charge a low price in the first year of a new policy, as an incentive for consumers to switch, but in many cases the policy premiums rise in the second year.

Business | Financial Market News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

13-Feb-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

4,273.99

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

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

0.19 1.50 2.20 2.45 2.55 3.29 4.37 4.69 6.95 9.08 13.79 14.27 14.77 15.44 19.43

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

13.59 17.35 16.01 16.11 16.13 16.71 17.32 17.45 16.67 16.70 14.97 14.79 14.61 15.75 16.02

12.78 17.22 15.92 16.03 16.05 16.57 17.22 17.33 16.59 16.62 14.92 14.73 14.53 15.67 15.96

98.20 94.50 98.30 87.70 86.29 85.19 96.00 67.41 98.85 88.50 100.11 86.42 63.38 67.00 77.00

98.35 94.65 98.45 87.85 86.44 85.49 96.30 67.71 99.15 88.80 100.41 86.72 63.68 67.30 77.30

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 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.27 1.13 1.82 2.18 2.39

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.39 20.21 18.72 17.24 17.14

95.64 97.19 95.89 95.92 92.73

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.68

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

307.33

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.55

4.44

18.75

96.87

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.38

3.23

17.05

98.54

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.90

4.46

21.75

93.99

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.90

3.48

20.79

95.83

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.18

1.00

17.24

87.26

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.44

1.00

18.50

94.31

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.88

1.79

18.18

90.89

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.05

1.80

18.10

93.49

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.06

1.00

17.29

94.69

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.25

1.00

17.20

95.25

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.25

4.78

20.98

88.43

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.45

1.00

17.11

96.99

15.50 14.50 14.75

16.23 80.00 26.62

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

2.69 4.77 2.75

1.00 1.00 2.74

17.23 18.42 19.02

96.53 87.84 91.49

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

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

‡ /Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.10

10-Oct-20

3.30

1.00

17.71

93.09

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.79

1.00

17.98

84.21

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.88

1.94

18.88

86.49

‡ /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

3.54

1.44

18.34

90.77

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.56

06-Jan-21

3.57

1.95

18.87

90.72

97.94

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

460.61 414.73

Corporate Bonds ‡ /Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

5.00

17-Aug-15

0.26

4.88

18.63

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

18.75

09-Dec-15

0.57

1.00

15.47

98.14

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.65

2.63

17.79

97.79

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.63

1.00

18.14

92.99

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.70

1.34

18.32

94.21

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.63

1.00

17.19

91.38

BBB-/GCR

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.65

1.88

18.98

99.39

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.65

3.48

20.57

94.13

Nil A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

1.82

5.20

21.93

94.73

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

1.82

5.06

21.79

92.21

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.61

1.00

17.95

89.78

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

1.93

2.29

18.77

95.48

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

2.01

6.11

22.43

93.61

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.88

2.16

18.54

94.54

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.75

2.76

19.76

84.82

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.63

1.00

17.41

74.79

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.63

1.00

17.41

80.86

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

135.24

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

123.85

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.00

1.00

17.47

83.58

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.75

1.00

18.43

78.53

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 20.20

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

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

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

7.33

7.12

97.24

98.21

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

6.51

6.11

95.82

97.01

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

7.61

7.40

92.45

93.64

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,427.54

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

127.98

45.00

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

6.96

100.63

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

11.34

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

14.16

13.22

81.63

83.75

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

11.64

10.56

83.32

86.24

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

41.43

40.50

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

11.27

83.63

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

16.15

14.85

77.79

81.22

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

13.39

80.00

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

25.98 14.61 13.86

25.98 13.97 13.86

43.50 78.38 75.00

43.50 80.63 75.00

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.99

10.20

89.13

92.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,569.63

**Treasury Bills DTM 13 20 27 34 41 48

FIXINGS Maturity 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 12-Mar-15 19-Mar-15 26-Mar-15 2-Apr-15

Bid Discount (%) 13.80 12.82 12.80 13.16 12.98 13.96

Offer Discount (%) 13.55 12.57 12.55 12.91 12.73 13.71

Bid Yield (%) 13.87 12.91 12.92 13.32 13.17 14.22

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 76.5833 15.9765 17.1772 17.9082

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

76.67

O/N Tenor

80.17

REPO

Rate (%)

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M

199.00 204.32 204.63 205.39

199.10 204.43 204.79 205.89

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.68

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

307.33

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.55

4.44

18.75

96.87

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.38

3.23

17.05

98.54

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.90

4.46

21.75

93.99

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.90

3.48

20.79

95.83

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.18

1.00

17.24

87.26

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.44

1.00

18.50

94.31

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.88

1.79

18.18

90.89

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY,EDO FEBRUARY 16, 2015 ‡ /Agusto

Business | Financial Market News

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.05

1.80

18.10

93.49

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.06

1.00

17.29

94.69

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.25

1.00

17.20

95.25

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.25

4.78

20.98

88.43

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.45

1.00

17.11

96.99

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

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

2.69 4.77 2.75

1.00 1.00 2.74

17.23 18.42 19.02

96.53 87.84 91.49

‡ /Agusto

*OSUN

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

‡ /Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*FLOURMILLS

92.21

NSE to unveil Exchange Traded Derivatives in 2016 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

NEW PRODUCTS

Exchange plans modern ‡ /Agusto *EKITI A-/GCR market structure to*NASARAWA TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE support wideCAPITALISATION range of TOTAL MARKET investment products Corporate Bonds *UPDC

BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS Stories by Chris UgwuNAHCO A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

A-/Agusto

FSDH

he Nigerian Stock ExUBA change (NSE) *C said it BBB-/GCR & I LEASING #{r} Nil *DANA was sustaining active A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR *TOWER# engagement with relAAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER# evant stakeholders and capital A/Agusto; A/GCR UBA market operators Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR to accelerate *LA CASERA itsBBB-/DataPro†; development of Exchange BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS# A/GCR

Traded 14.75 Derivatives to be inauOSUN II 10-OCT-2020 gurated13.50 in 2016. LAGOS 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 Officer, The Chief Executive 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, who 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 stated this, said the launch would further deepen the Exchange’s product and value propositions. 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 Onyema noted that the Ex9-DEC-2015 change 12.00 hadFLOURMILLS reached advanced 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 stages towards the inaugura13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 tion of the NSE Premium Board 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 aimed at13.00 companies with miniUBA 30-SEP-2017 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 of mum market capitalisation MPR+7.00 9-APR-2018 $1 billion andDANA high corporate MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 governance standards as meaMPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 sured by14.00 CGRS system. UBA II 22-SEP-2018 He said that develop15.75 LA CASERAthe 18-OCT-2018 ment ofMPR+5.00 the growth board was CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

also aimed at supporting high 10-Oct-13 14.75 growth potential companies. 27-Nov-13 13.50 31-Dec-13 15.00 the The NSE boss said that 31-Dec-13 14.50 and plan was to further promote 06-Jan-14 15.00 continuously drive and develop a more transparent, liquid, accessible market, with a modern market structure to support the 17-Aug-10 delivery of a wide range10.00 of in12.00 vestment09-Dec-10 products. 14.00 “At the06-Jan-11 Nigerian Stock Ex29-Sep-11 13.00 change, we are aiming to be25-Oct-13 14.25 come the30-Sep-10 African exchange 13.00 of choice for30-Nov-12 African issuers 18.00 and 09-Apr-11 global investors. This is16.00 in line 18.00 with our09-Sep-11 new positioning as 09-Sep-11 16.00 the market for entrepreneurial 22-Sep-11 14.00 growth. The capital market, 18-Oct-13 15.75 in line with 17-Feb-12 the growth agenda 18.00 of

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

11.93

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

ETI signs $50m unsecured loan facility

B-/S&P

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

10.20 11.25

Coupon (%)

6.75 5.13 6.38

11.50 7.50 7.25 6.88 6.00 10.25 6.25 8.75 8.25 6.63 9.25 8.00

14-Aug-14

8.75

09-Sep-18

1.82

5.06

21.79

22-Sep-18

3.61

1.00

17.95

89.78

2.40

18-Oct-18

1.93

2.29

18.77

95.48

Afren ends talks with Seplat over sale 0.41

17-Feb-19

2.01

6.11

22.43

93.61

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.88

2.16

18.54

94.54

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.75

2.76

19.76

84.82

30-Sep-24 9.63 il producer, Afren Plc, 15.44 30-Sep-24 9.63 said it had ended talks 135.24 with Nigeria’s Seplat 123.85 Petroleum Development Company Plc, over a potential sale of the . 12.00 company 11-Feb-18 3.00 12.95 4.75 According to01-Feb-21 Reuters, Afren, which 24.95 has most of its oilfields in 20.20 Nigeria, said it had not received any proposal from SeOutstanding Value Maturity Date could Bid Yield plat that it believed be (%) ($mm) implemented on satisfactory terms. 500.00 28-Jan-21 that it did 7.33 Seplat confirmed not intend to make an offer. 500.00 12-Jul-18 6.51 Afren has lost about 95 per cent of its market value, or 7.61 1.6 500.00 12-Jul-23 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) 1,500.00 since the end of July, hit by a 1,427.54 slump in oil prices, the dismissal of top executives and the450.00 absence of 01-Feb-16 proven or prob127.98 able reserves at a field in Iraqi 500.00 19-May-16 6.96 Kurdistan. 350.00 25-Jul-17 11.34 The had about 300.00 company 02-May-18 14.16 $1.15 in gross debt 400.00 billion 08-Nov-18 11.64 08-Apr-19 as 300.00 of September and said41.43 in 500.00 22-Apr-19 11.27 January that its liquidity was 200.00 21-May-19 16.15 much lower than the $235 mil300.00 07-Aug-20 13.39 lion that it held in cash at the 360.00 09-Dec-20 25.98 end400.00 of 2014. 24-Jun-21 14.61 Two credit rating agencies 450.00 23-Jul-21 13.86 250.00

14-Aug-21

10.99

74.79 have1.00warned 17.41 of an imminent 1.00 17.41 80.86 risk of the company’s default. Afren said at the weekend that it remained in talks with creditors for its immediate funding needs. 1.00 17.47 83.58 1.00 company’s 18.43 78.53was The stock up eight per cent at 7.99 pence, having earlier fallen to 4.077 pence, slightly above the reOffer Yield (%)hit Bid Price Offer Price cord low last month. Seplat had recently notified Prices & Yields the Nigerian Stock Exchange 7.12 that 97.24 98.21 (NSE) it successfully refinanced its existing debt 6.11 95.82 97.01 facilities with a new $700 million7.40 seven year term 92.45secured 93.64 facility and $300 million three year secured revolving credit facility. In a notice obtained from the127.98 Exchange45.00 website by New 45.00 Telegraph, the seven-year 6.96 100.63 100.63 facility an option 11.34also includes 91.50 91.50 for the 13.22 company 81.63 to upsize 83.75 the facility to an additional 10.56 by up 83.32 86.24 40.50qualifying 40.50 ac$70041.43 million for 11.27 83.63 83.63 quisition opportunities. 14.85 77.79 81.22 The company also provides 80.00 an 13.39 update on80.00 its operations 25.98 43.50 43.50 where it has delivered on full 13.97 78.38 80.63 year13.86 2014 guidance. 75.00 75.00 10.20

4,760.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

0.80

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

by its recent admission into the 1.00 17.71 93.09 World 1.00Federation 17.98 of Exchanges 84.21 1.94 active18.88 86.49 of (WFE), membership 1.44 and ISG. 18.34 90.77 IOSCO, 1.95 18.87 90.72 “In Africa we have also been recognised at WACMI and ASEA with my Chairmanship and Presidency of these organ4.88 18.63 isations respectively . We97.94 thank 1.00 15.47 98.14 the Federal Government of Ni2.63 17.79 97.79 geria under the leadership of 1.00 18.14 92.99 President Goodluck Jonathan, 1.34 18.32 94.21 for providing a17.19 policy and regu1.00 91.38 latory that have 1.88environment 18.98 99.39 al3.48us to achieve 20.57 lowed these94.13 mile5.20 21.93 94.73 stones,” he said.

35.00

0.10

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

cobank Transnation- ings for the third quarter ratio. The sustained imal Incorporated (ETI) ended September 30, 2014. provement in our Nigeria has signed The growth in profit was business, the largest of Supranational Bonda one-year IFC 11-FEB-2018 in Afsenior unsecured loan facilattributed to10.20 reduced costs our 36 countries11-Feb-13 AAA/S&P IFC AFDB 1-FEB-2021 AAA/S&P arranged AfDB ityAaa/Moody's; of $50 million as the Pan11.25 Africa bank rica, and another10-Jul-14 strong OUTSTANDING VALUE by TOTAL Deutsche Bank AG. continues to seek organic treasury performance, has TOTALcompany MARKET CAPITALISATION The , in a no- growth through business helped deliver earnings tice to the Nigerian Stock combinations. per share up 26 per cent.” Description Breakdown ofIssue Rating/Agency Issuer Date reExchange (NSE), said the For the first nine months the facility would be used for through September, Eco- sult shows that, the bank’s FGN Eurobonds general corporate pur- bank’s profit after tax cost to income ratio reJAN 28,duced 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P (PAT) appreciated by6.7531 poses. to 66.56 per07-Oct-11 cent in ETI successfully raised per cent to N52.49 billion Q3 2014 from 71.20 per cent BB-/Fitch; FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 12-Jul-13 BB-/S&P a $200 million loan facility from N39.96 billion in the the preceding year. AddiBB-/Fitch; from Deutsche Bank in De- same period of the corre, net margin moved 6.38 JUL 12,tionally 2023 12-Jul-13 BB-/S&P cember 2014. This new $50 sponding year (Q3) 2013. to 19.51 per cent in Q3 as TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE million loan facility brings The bank grew gross against 17.23 per cent the TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION total funding arranged by earnings by 16 per cent to preceding year. Deutsche to $250 mil- N207.75billion while interIts loans to deposit ratio CorporateBank Eurobonds lion. income was up by 10.70 to 71.63 per cent in 11.50 FEB 01,jumped 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN PLCest I 01-Feb-11 Altogether, in the last per cent N187.67 billion in Q3 2014 from 66.80 per cent 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I 19-May-11 sixB+/S&P months, Ecobank ACCESS had BANK thePLCperiod under review. and 7.25 JUL 25,as 2017at Q3 2013. Loans 25-Jul-12 raised approximatelyFIDELITY $1 BANK Commenting on the6.88rewere up09-May-13 by 16.55 MAY 09,advances 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P PLC 6.00 NOV 08,per 2018 cent to N1.97trillion sults, Group Chief Execubillion inB+/S&P combined equity B+/Fitch; GTBANK PLC 08-Nov-13 in 10.25 APR 08,Q3 20192014 from N1.69trillion B/Fitch II 08-Apr-12 and debt capital for its AFREN par- PLCtive Officer, Albert Essien, 6.25 APR 22,as 2019 BB-/S&P and its busiZENITH BANK PLC “Our strong results 22-Apr-14 entB+/Fitch; company said: at Q3 2013. Deposit from 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC 21-May-14 nesses in Nigeria, the largfor the first nine months customers also spiked by 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC 07-Aug-13 8.69 per cent to N2.75 trilestB-/Fitch; of the group’s affiliates. of 2014 show solid revenue 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III 09-Dec-13 The bank had posted 31 growth and a further re- lion in Q3 2014 from N2.53 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC II 24-Jun-14 perB-/Fitch; cent B/S&P growth in net earnduction in our cost-income trillion as at Q3 2013. 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 FIRST BANK LTD 23-Jul-14

the11.10 current management of the 10-Oct-20 3.30 Exchange, has27-Nov-20 within the last 87.50 5.79 5.00 years, implemented 31-Dec-20 5.88 three far4.55 31-Dec-20 3.54 reaching transformational poli06-Jan-21 3.57 cies4.56 aimed at diversifying our 460.61 economic base and achieving 414.73 sustained, inclusive economic growth,” he said. 5.00 noted that 17-Aug-15 0.26 He by implement09-Dec-15 0.57 ing18.75 these key initiatives, lever0.42 06-Jan-16 0.65 aging on international best 15.00 29-Sep-16 1.63 practices and 25-Oct-16 effective regu5.53 1.70 latory regime, the Exchange 20.00 30-Sep-17 2.63 was0.64 not only restoring investor 30-Nov-17 1.65 6.30 1.65 confidence, but09-Apr-18 gaining interna2.90 09-Sep-18 1.82 tional credibility as evidenced

89.13

92.50

13-Feb-15

3,569.63

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 **Treasury Bills FIXINGS Money Market & Forwards) 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 accurateForeign or up toExchange date. We(Spot do not guarantee DTM Maturity Bid Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%) NIBOR the accuracy, timeliness, completeness,26-Feb-15 performance or fitness for13.80 a particular purpose of13.55 any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. 13 13.87 20 27 FGN Bonds 34 41 48 Rating/Agency 55 62 69 76 83 90 97 111 118 132 NA 139 153 160 167 174 202 293 307 328 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 342 356 CAPITALISATION TOTAL MARKET

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

12.82 12.80 13.16 12.98 13.96 Description 15.50 13.79 4.00 23-APR-2015 15.55 13.05 16-AUG-2016 13.67 12.55 15.10 27-APR-2017 13.08 9.85 27-JUL-2017 15.00 9.35 31-AUG-2017 15.20 10.70 30-MAY-2018 15.20 16.00 29-JUN-2019 16.00 7.00 23-OCT-2019 15.50 16.39 27-JAN-2022 12.84 14.20 14-MAR-2024 14.95 15.00 28-NOV-2028 15.15 12.49 22-MAY-2029 12.85 8.50 20-NOV-2029 15.10 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.40 15.00 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 16.00 14.45 16.00

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

Rating/Agency

Issuer

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

12.57 12.55 12.91 12.73 13.71 Issue Date 15.25 13.54 23-Apr-10 15.30 16-Aug-13 13.42 12.30 27-Apr-12 12.83 27-Jul-07 14.75 31-Aug-07 14.95 30-May-08 14.95 29-Jun-12 15.75 23-Oct-09 15.25 27-Jan-12 12.59 14-Mar-14 14.70 28-Nov-08 14.90 22-May-09 12.60 20-Nov-09 14.85 23-Jul-10 12.15 14.75 18-Jul-14 15.75 14.20 15.75

12.91 12.92 13.32 13.17 14.22 Coupon 15.87(%) 14.12 4.00 16.02 13.05 14.07 12.92 15.10 13.52 9.85 15.62 9.35 15.94 10.70 15.99 16.00 16.98 7.00 16.47 16.39 13.57 14.20 16.00 15.00 16.28 12.49 13.69 8.50 16.48 10.00 13.77 17.17 12.1493 18.69 16.71 18.96

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M Value Outstanding

Bonds

Description

(N'bn)

OBB

Rate (%) 76.5833 15.9765 17.1772 17.9082

76.67

O/N

Maturity Date

535.00 23-Apr-15 NITTY 581.39 16-Aug-16 Tenor Rate (%) 476.80 27-Apr-17 1M 13.0796 20.00 27-Jul-17 2M 14.0998 100.00 31-Aug-17 3M 14.2442 300.00 30-May-18 6M 14.4273 351.30 29-Jun-19 9M 14.6954 233.90 23-Oct-19 12M 19.0936 600.00 27-Jan-22 434.68 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 NIFEX 22-May-29 150.00 200.00 20-Nov-29 Current Price ($/N) 23-Jul-30 BID($/N)591.57 201.3333 OFFER 206.00 ($/N) 201.4333 18-Jul-34

4,855.63

Tenor

80.17

REPO

TTM (Yrs) Call 1M

Rate (%)

Bid 85.00 Yield (%) 90.00

Tenor

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer Yield 2M (%) 3M 12.78 6M 17.22 1Y

0.19 13.59 3M 95.00 1.50 17.35 6M 98.00 2.20 16.01 15.92 2.45 16.11 16.03 NOTE: 2.55 16.13 16.05 :Benchmarks 3.29 16.71 16.57 * :Amortising 4.37 Bond 17.32 17.22 µ :Convertible Bond 4.69 17.45 17.33 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 6.95 16.67 16.59 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 9.08 16.70 16.62 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 13.79 14.97 14.92 IFC: International Finance Corporation 14.27Contractors Receivables 14.79 14.73 LCRM: Local Management 14.61 Company14.53 NAHCO: 14.77 Nigerian Aviation Handling 15.44 15.75 15.67 O/N: Overnight UPDC: UAC Property Development 19.43 16.02 Company 15.96

WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

199.00 199.10 204.32 Price 204.43 204.63 204.79 205.39 205.89 Bid Price Offer Price 206.77 207.86 208.15 209.78 98.20 98.35 212.90 216.12 94.50 94.65 223.02 229.08

98.30 98.45 87.70 87.85 86.29 86.44 NA :Not85.19 Applicable 85.49 # :Floating 96.00Rate Bond 96.30 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 67.41 67.71 98.85 99.15 ‡ : Bond rating under review †: Bond88.50 rating expired 88.80 100.11 100.41 N/A :Not Available 86.42 {r} :Issuer in receivership86.72 63.38 63.68 67.00 67.30 NGC: Nigeria-German Company UBA: United 77.00 Bank for Africa 77.30

4,273.99

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 FGN BOND 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 2.70 112.22 INDEX 116.70 66.49

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.27 1.13 1.82 2.18 2.39

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.39 20.21 18.72 17.24 17.14

95.64 97.19 95.89 95.92 92.73

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration

Implied Yield

Implied Portfolio Price

Agency Bonds

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUEModified Duration Buckets TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Sub-National Bonds

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

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

Total Outstanding Volume(Bn)

FMDQ

Weighting by Outstanding Vol

Weighting by Mkt Value

322.68 Bucket Weighting 307.33

1,355.35

1,409.48

43.48

46.93

3<5

977.79

1,034.68

31.92

33.86

797.57

31-Aug-1024.60

3,241.73

30-Sep-10 100.00

12.50 19.22 13.00 100.00 14.00

4.86

INDEX

YTD Return (%)

0.43

21.89

16.90

116.1498

1,103.19 -

0.32

36.73

16.68

115.5991

978.85 -

0.4208 3.3303

8.50

0.25

31-Aug-1541.38

0.55 15.83

4.44 83.5580

96.87 2.9865

4.18

1.00

30-Sep-15 100.00

0.38 16.37

3.23 107.9554

18.75 976.94 17.05 1,030.88 -

A/Agusto

KADUNA

554.97 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

Market

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 2,888.11

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.90

3.48

20.79

95.83

‡ /Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.18

1.00

17.24

87.26

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.44

1.00

18.50

94.31

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.88

1.79

18.18

90.89

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.05

1.80

18.10

93.49

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.06

1.00

17.29

94.69

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.25

1.00

17.20

95.25

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.25

4.78

20.98

88.43

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

30-Jun-16

0.90

4.46

21.75

98.54 2.3033 93.99

Business | Interview

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Govt has not impacted

Oladimeji Owofemi is the founder, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc, the largest Cocoa Industry Food Processing Company in Nigeria. Owofemi, also currently the National Vice President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Chairman, Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria (COPAN), speaks on how government policies have not impacted the manufacturing sector, the need for African countries to have a common trade tariff, need for effective cooperation between the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments and the Ministry of Agriculture, among other issues, in this interview with DELE ALAO.

How would you react to the recent introduction of ECOWAS Common External Tariff? My view really is that you have got to differentiate between Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and this tariff. What I am aware of that can benefit the society is that agricultural commodities must freely move among the countries because one of the setbacks in Africa is that we don’t trade with ourselves and thereby missing the opportunity that the African population itself offers. There is no way Africa will not miss the opportunity of a one billion people market if the countries don’t trade with themselves. Out of the six and a half billion population in the world, Africa takes at least one billion. It is a sizable proportion that you must not miss under any circumstance because you cannot replace that. It is also because we don’t trade with ourselves that is why we don’t appreciate the logistic problems that exist between African countries. I give you a very small example. To go from Nigeria to Cote d’Ivoire by air should be about 45 minutes and therefore you would be able to come back on the same day. But, you will need to travel between here (Nigeria) and Ghana first, you fly that 45 minutes, the connecting flight between Accra and Cote d’Ivoire is mis-merged. By the time you are arriving Ghana, that flight has left and it’s not coming again for that day. So, you sleep over in Ghana. And the following day, you travel to Cote d’Ivoire. By the time you are arriving there, they are closing up, so you sleep in Cote d’ Ivoire second day, that is two nights already. Then you do your business on the third day, depending on the timing of your business, if you are not careful, you will miss the return flight. So, that means you sleep two days in Ivory Coast, you already slept one day in Ghana, that is three days already. Then you leave the fourth day, if you get the wrong flight as well, you will miss your connecting flight, so a 45 minutes flight caused you between three to five days. I guess that is one of the principal reasons why trading between African countries, especially West Africa that at least I’m familiar with, takes such a negative share of the trade from and within Africa. Now, I understand that of South Africa; it is very far, it takes you six hours to go. So obviously you need to stay there for the day and the day after, may be three days it takes you. But I am aware because I experience that in East Africa between Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, it is the same problem. They have some resemblance of trade system there, they travel by rail in-

involving than trade. Trade means send your raw materials, that is the impression I get, send all your raw materials out, don’t add value when you talk about trade. But if you talk about commerce, it means enhanced value of trade.

Owofemi

between South Africa, Zimbabwe and all South Africa Development Countries (SADC), they are even better than we are because they have a common currency trading arrangement there. And they are more organised than even ECOWAS. The bit that you notice about ECOWAS is the political angle of it, not a trade angle. The ministers of agric in ECOWAS countries don’t meet, whereas in SADC countries they have a platform where they meet and work together. East Africa has a platform where they meet and work together. So, there is a lot of work that African countries need to do with each other. Our own minister for agriculture was trying to do something like that for cocoa. Why should we that produce cocoa not have our own Cocoa Producer Exporting Countries (COPEC) of West Africa. So, are you saying that the introduction of ECOWAS CET is in order? Yes, because we need to speak to ourselves and say, ‘what do we

want? What is our trade policy?’ That is a development that should be encouraged because if we don’t have our own policy, we go there, they say come to World Trade Organisation (WTO) for instance and then they determine what rate they want to charge on things they sell to us and what rate we must charge on things we sell to them. So, why do you think there is European Union? Why do you think there is American and Community Union kind of business relationships? What gave rise to WTO? Because you have to devise means to protect your own interests. Why do we have the EPA? Between Europeans countries, they say ‘look this is what we must do to Africa to get what we want.’ The ECOWAS CET is a necessity that will make us play well in the industry or on the economic front in the world. It is not enough to just do that of ECOWAS tariff. We must have an African trade tariff or commerce tariff because I am averse to trading. People think trading is all that you need, whereas we should talk of commerce. Commerce is more

And still continues to be a disaster because we haven’t picked our pieces together since that time

You have been into the commodity business for close to three decades. How would you describe the state of the business in Nigeria? The scrapping of the Commodity Boards by the administration of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976 was a disaster and still continues to be a disaster because we haven’t picked our pieces together since that time. I don’t know why it has been so difficult. We haven’t woken up from that mishap. And I think this administration, at least, made an attempt to try to do something but nobody rewards efforts. This administration made a lot of efforts to try and improve upon what the Obasanjo administration did. The Obasanjo administration tried to give a lot of attention to the agricultural aspect of our economy even though oil still remains the mainstay. But now, we are improving on the returns from the agricultural sector. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has a lot of plans, a lot of activities, a lot of transformation steps taken. But, the ministry hasn’t reached the concluding part that can institutionalise because you need to institutionalise all of these so called Transformation Agenda or activities because government would go, government would come. Even if this current government were to win the next election, it is only for a four year period. Only institution survives government. One of the concluding parts of enabling any aspect of the economy is to create an enduring institution for it. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is an institution, for instance, that will outlive this government. It is an institution that will make sure that telecom business in this country cannot be done as business as usual. There are regulations - if you offend, you pay penalties. So, those are reasons for asking that there should be institutionalisation. Cocoa Corporation of Nigeria was an idea that would have institutionalised the cocoa economy because cocoa remains the second largest foreign exchange earner for this country. And for me, I think what is happening in the oil sector now is just the beginning; we haven’t seen the end of it. And, perhaps, is more beneficial for this country that oil should go back to $8 per barrel that it was so that we can actually face the reality of encouraging and ensuring that the real

Business | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

manufacturing

BIODATA Current Position: Vice Chairman, Chief Executive of Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc Education: Higher National Diploma (HND) Accountancy from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, 1983. Associate Chartered Accountant, 1985. Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), 1995. Work experience: Professional article-ship with Daniel Alalade & Co. (chartered accountants) 19831984, Egunjobi Adegbite Ogunniy & Co. (chartered accountants), 1984 – 1987, Management Accountant, Cocoa Industries Limited, Ikeja (1987-1988), Accounts Manager (Head of Accounts Department), Ebun Industries Limited in 1988 and 1989 with additional assignment in 1989 as Cocoa Buyer; Project Coordinator (Cocoa Processing Factory), 1990; Assistant General Manager (Cocoa Products Marketing), 1991; Executive Director (Marketing and Administration), 1992 and 1993.

–Multi-Trex boss sector comes alive once again. So, the commodity business…? It is in limbo… that is the way to put it. If you talk about trade, just maybe you see an improvement. But on the real sector, in the manufacturing, value addition aspect of it, is not even better than the oil industry where all we do is to produce raw materials for the economies of other countries. So, you will never get the best value for it. What is your assessment of cocoa production and processing in Nigeria compared to other cocoa processing countries? If we look at West Africa, Nigeria is the only country where investment in the industry is in the hands of the citizens. The value addition industry in Ghana is substantially in the hands of multinationals. And these multinationals are the big five, the big players in essence. They (the multinationals) have set up factories in those countries because of the incentives governments designed for local value addition, rather than raw cocoa beans export. Of course, they export the extra raw cocoa beans because they produce so much more than they locally can cope with. Because their economy is much smaller than the Nigerian economy, there are not as many entrepreneurs as in Nigeria, where people have the potential or propensity to want to establish factories on their own. It is, however, a much more difficult environment in Nigeria than in other countries in the West African region where government protects value addition. In Ivory Coast, taxes are imposed on raw cocoa beans export. It is the same in Ghana; the tax from raw beans export is what Ghana uses to sustain its economy. Now, we have, in our own wisdom, decided to scrap all our commodity boards, which they (Ghana and others) didn’t scrap. That puts their economy in the hands of the people, but government is also putting cogs in the wheels of the progress of the full privatisation that they intended to do. How would you say successive government policies have impacted on commodity business? It hasn’t. The nearest policy drive is the Export Expansion Grant (EEG). You and I know the status of that. Government got to a point that it wrote its own cheque and was bouncing its own cheque. That is the situation we are. So, all of us were lured to go into manufacturing only to be let down by implementation because there was so much disjointedness in the implementation of otherwise laudable programme. And what is that? It is because we don’t know who is in charge. By law, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the export expansion programme is under the control

the minister of state reports to the substantive minister, there is a gap there. And there is no way you can operate it any differently. So, why can’t we have all these ministers of states given specific jobs and put the right peg in the right hole. Believe you me, we need somebody who has manufacturing experience to handle ministry of industry, seriously speaking.

Owofemi

of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments. But, the Ministry of Finance is funding it. And so, finance calls the shots at will. It will do whatever it likes on that programme. And, perhaps, it also depends on how friendly or what kind of cordiality is existing between the two ministers of finance or minister of state for finance and the substantive minister in the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments. I just don’t understand it You could smell the same thing between the Ministry of Agric and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments. The current governance structure needs to be restructured; it needs to be re-designed. If you ask for my opinion, the Ministry of Industry needs to stand on its own now. The nearness or combination would probably be with Agriculture if you really want value to be added through the industries into the agricultural commodities. It is now what is done around the world. We may need to customize our own. Like the industry ministry should be combined with the Ministry of Agriculture. But if you are not going to do that, separate it from trade because trade means throw

away the raw materials, so there is nobody taking care of industries. So, what is wrong in separating trade from investment? You can have ministry of investment and minister of investment so that you can hold that person responsible. You can also have ministry of trade separate and ministry of industry separate. You can have each person being responsible. Look, it won’t cost us more than it is already costing us because you already have ministers of states in those ministries. Tell me what is the function of Minister of State? It is just a political appointment. Job for the boys because everything still stops on the desk of the substantive minister and for most of them, your guess is as good as mine. What real role is any minister of state playing when you already have Permanent Secretaries? So, you are more or less either ending up having the permanent secretary not having anything to do or creating a conflict between the minister of state and the permanent secretary or the minister of state and the substantive minister or among the three of them because who reports to who? Permanent secretary reports to the minister substantive and then

All of us were lured to go into manufacturing only to be let down by implementation because there was so much disjointedness in the implementation of otherwise laudable programme

How do you think the policies of the present administration have impacted the manufacturing sector? I don’t see any positive effect. If people will open their mouths to say the truth of what is really happening, it is negative. This company retrenched 120 people last year. We are the ones who employed them, why do you think we would relieve them of their jobs? In August, we asked 27 people to go on leave without pay because we can’t just continue to throw people to the labour market. At least, 70 per cent of them haven’t got another job. So, when I hear Madam Okonjo-Iweala saying that they have created jobs, I like to know the nature of jobs that they have created because people relieved of their jobs here are people who are graduates in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Instrumentation, Quality Control, Micro-Biology. So, these are qualitative people that had to be relieved of their jobs because the company’s capacity came down from 70 per cent to 20 and then drop further. Who is going to keep them on the payroll? To what extent do you think the country has gone in the drive towards self-sufficiency in cocoa production? There is enough plan, there is enough foundation laid, we just need to develop further on that foundation that is laid by the Minister of Agriculture. But he is not alone in the game. He needs help from other ministries.

Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015

Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006

Business | Capital Market

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Daily Summary (Bonds)

Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006

No Debt Trading Activity

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at February 13, 2015 Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 45 15 60

Current Price 29.29 28.00

Quantity Traded 1,973,726 121,655 2,095,381

Value Traded 57,481,764.19 3,407,907.25 60,889,671.44

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 2.09

Quantity Traded 156,126 156,126

Value Traded 326,303.34 326,303.34

2,251,507

61,215,974.78

Quantity Traded 20,640 100 55,756,818 494,924 56,272,482

Value Traded 24,066.20 98.00 125,546,410.49 17,157,154.63 142,727,729.32

56,272,482

142,727,729.32

AGRICULTURE Totals

CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. Daily Summary as ofHOLT 13/02/2015 JOHN PLC. TRANSNATIONAL Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Symbol AGLEVENT JOHNHOLT TRANSCORP UACN

CONGLOMERATES Totals

No. of Deals 5 1 389 38 433

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 1.20 0.96 2.28 34.58

433

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Symbol COSTAIN

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.73

Value Traded 7,140.00 7,140.00

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 44.40

Quantity Traded 125,080 125,080

Value Traded 5,276,049.00 5,276,049.00

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

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 11.94

Quantity Traded 1,160 1,160

Value Traded 13,166.00 13,166.00

136,440

5,296,355.00

CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX14:53:06.006 PLC. Printed 13/02/2015

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

Quantity Traded 112,395 112,395

Value Traded 16,782,234.38 16,782,234.38

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR NASCON UNIONDICON UTC

No. of Deals Current Price 43 3.60 44 6.14 175 29.00 6 3.15 30 6.00 1 13.11 1 0.50 300

Quantity Traded 359,265 925,736 2,546,645 130,400 609,647 100 75,545,721 80,117,514

Value Traded 1,293,354.00 5,685,959.04 69,891,492.09 391,200.00 3,683,734.99 1,246.00 37,772,860.50 118,719,846.62

Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals Current Price 31 42.98 54 746.25 85

Quantity Traded 189,617 67,947 257,564

Value Traded 7,834,213.80 50,713,993.08 58,548,206.88

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

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals Current Price 4 3.42 6 0.97 10

Quantity Traded 36,099 106,100 142,199

Value Traded 123,492.58 98,673.00 222,165.58

Personal/Household Products

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals Current Price 56 26.99 52 34.01 108

Quantity Traded 512,974 3,706,682 4,219,656

Value Traded 13,189,663.51 125,797,665.98 138,987,329.49

97,843,094

2,028,564,353.90

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

770

Page

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC.

Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 79 DIAMONDBNK 47 ETI 33 FIDELITYBK 43 GUARANTY 768 SKYEBANK 114 STERLNBANK 29 UBA 245 UBN 44 Daily Summary (Equities) UNITYBNK 1 WEMABANK 47

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 UNIC INSURANCE PLC. WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Activity Summary on Board EQTY Micro-Finance Banks Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Other Financial Institutions PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC Published byAFRICA The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

SERVICES Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Value Traded 83,952,322.35 21,310,908.00 707,398,879.95 7,294,401.59 1,943,837,312.31 28,025,805.80 3,726,891.84 42,386,764.26 7,324,912.65 175,000.00 10,119,118.47

No. of Deals 32 11 1 1 1 1 3 1 24 1 2 1 1 9 89

Current Price 0.75 0.80 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.96 0.50 0.53 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded 4,581,402 696,000 11,500 300 2,259,713 12,000,000 35,500 1,000Page 554,621 9,292 8,200 5,034,155 932 1,076,749 26,269,364

Value Traded 3,425,266.50 558,740.00 5,750.00 150.00 1,129,856.50 6,000,000.00 103,610.00 500.00 4 of 12 294,797.08 4,646.00 4,100.00 2,517,077.50 466.00 538,374.50 14,583,334.08

No. of Deals 7 7

Current Price 0.85

Quantity Traded 1,129,196 1,129,196

Value Traded 908,966.42 908,966.42

No. of Deals 41 13 544 99 2 24 45 768

Current Price 2.75 3.90 6.37 2.00 0.50 24.90 1.33

2,510 Symbol FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

No. of Deals 8 7 6 2 1 24

Current Price 2.93 40.00 1.35 0.74 2.24

24 Symbol COURTVILLE

No. of Deals 5

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,889,504Page 1,476,222 27,927,797 16,151,418 15,656 540,876 1,648,612 50,650,085

Value Traded 515,705,099.03 3,371,257,416.25

Value Traded 57,945,396.99 of 12 5,757,696.47 179,856,166.09 31,650,650.97 7,828.00 13,426,269.57 2,212,938.29 240,856,946.38

337,506,051

3,627,606,663.13

Quantity Traded 241,935 7,042 10,524 6,000 500 266,001

Value Traded 708,999.55 288,243.00 14,223.96 4,260.00 1,065.00 1,016,791.51

266,001

1,016,791.51

Quantity Traded 44,278

Value Traded 22,139.00

Page

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,000 1,000

Value Traded 500.00 500.00

45,278

22,639.00

6 Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM WAPCO

No. of Deals 11 1 10 23 131 76 252

Current Price 17.37 9.00 38.75 10.20 141.90 78.51

Quantity Traded 187,010 300 17,478 450,129 5,695,595 3,113,664 9,464,176

Value Traded 3,266,726.30 2,565.00 652,059.74 4,562,398.27 797,906,137.06 246,373,176.70 1,052,763,063.07

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.54

Quantity Traded 500 500

Value Traded 785.00 785.00

No. of Deals 1 1 (Equities)

Current Price 30.00

Quantity Traded 20 20

Value Traded 570.00 570.00

Symbol BETAGLAS

Daily Summary

Page

9,464,696

1,052,764,418.07

Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals Current Price 1 0.50 1

Quantity Traded 1,000 1,000

Value Traded 500.00 500.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals Current Price 124 13.50 124

Quantity Traded 1,039,884 1,039,884

Value Traded 13,908,671.45 13,908,671.45

No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded DailySymbol Summary (Equities)

Value Traded

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 11 12 102 11 3 25 164

Current Price 32.60 2.64 212.09 150.00 50.54 134.05

Quantity Traded 18,164 141,272 424,026 9,194 524 147,332 740,512

Value Traded 562,539.08 339,029.50 85,821,956.43 1,412,897.91 25,162.48 20,122,781.76 108,284,367.16

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 16 16

Current Price 385.00

Quantity Traded 81,634 81,634

Value Traded 31,380,138.21 31,380,138.21

1,863,030Page

305

8 of 12 153,573,676.82

Quantity Traded 6,000 6,000

Value Traded 4,800.00 4,800.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 5 5 10

Current Price 3.90 0.93

Quantity Traded 43,000 365,400 408,400

Value Traded 160,430.00 342,022.00 502,452.00

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 290,500Page

Value Traded 9 145,250.00 of 12

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 3.02

Quantity Traded 215,900 215,900

Value Traded 658,722.00 658,722.00

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol ACADEMY

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.16

Quantity Traded 83,226 83,226

Value Traded 96,542.16 96,542.16

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.53

Quantity Traded 22,030 22,030

Value Traded 11,863.60 11,863.60

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 4 13 17

Current Price 2.04 4.50

Quantity Traded 84,211 44,893 129,104

Value Traded 171,790.44 203,165.61 374,956.05

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 2.95

Quantity Traded 82,100 82,100

Value Traded 241,882.50 241,882.50

1,237,260

2,036,468.31

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals SERVICES Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

Daily Summary (Equities)

290,500

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

EQTY Board Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

145,250.00

506,885,839

7,074,825,069.84

Quantity Traded 7,000,000 7,000,000

Value Traded 3,500,000.00 3,500,000.00

7,000,000

3,500,000.00

4,435

Activity Summary on Board ASeM OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CAPITAL OIL PLC Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Symbol CAPOIL

No. of Deals 1 1

OIL AND GAS Totals

Current Price 0.50

ASeM Board Totals

7,000,000

3,500,000.00

Equity Activity Totals

4,436

513,885,839

7,078,325,069.84

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Exchange Traded Fund Totals Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006 Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

254

Current Price 0.84

SERVICES Employment Solutions

Symbol AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST GNI INTENEGINS LASACO MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM NIGERINS PRESTIGE STDINSURE UNIC WAPIC

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 1 1

No. of Deals 3 3

Quantity Traded 32,412,024 259,457,406

Symbol NPFMCRFBK

Symbol CHAMS

Symbol RTBRISCOE

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Activity Summary on BoardTotals EQTY

Current Price 15.62

Daily Summary (Equities)

Value Traded 22,139.00

No. of Deals 196 1,646

HEALTHCARE Totals ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC

Quantity Traded 15,775,954 6,089,550 41,640,205 5,903,211 114,221,826 15,563,780 1,640,009 14,150,767 824,639 350,000 10,885,441

OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Symbol ZENITHBANK

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

Current Price 5.32 3.50 16.17 1.25 17.00 1.82 2.32 3.00 8.80 0.50 0.94

Quantity Traded 44,278

INDUSTRIAL GOODS INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Current Price 149.15

Current Price

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities) 32 32

No. of Deals 5

Daily Summary as of 13/02/2015 Integrated Oil and Gas Services Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006

Page

UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Value Traded 228,124.40 19,400.00 30,802,541.22 61,257.68 1,664,193,247.65 1,695,304,570.95

Daily SummaryPas of 13/02/2015 Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. Printed 13/02/2015 14:53:06.006

Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Quantity Traded 40,376 20,000 270,093 3,322 12,659,975 12,993,766

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSUMER GOODS Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC UNION DICON SALT PLC. U T C NIG. PLC. Food Products Totals

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals

Current Price 5.94 0.93 114.00 19.41 129.00

7UP

Symbol

ICT Totals

No. of Deals 5 1 57 1 171 235

Symbol CHAMPION GOLDBREW GUINNESS INTBREW NB

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Quantity Traded 10,200 10,200

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals

ICT Computer Based Systems Computer Based Systems Totals

Symbol LOTUSHAL15 NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 3 1 2 6

Current Price 9.00 2,392.00 12.39

Quantity Traded 1,011 21 100,002 101,034 Page

Daily Summary (ETP)

Value Traded 9,189.90 50,232.00 1,238,024.78 1,297,446.68 11

ETF Board Totals

101,034

1,297,446.68

ETP Activity Totals

101,034

1,297,446.68

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

L-R: Branch Manager, Skye Bank Plc, Bauchi, Alhaji Hussaini Uba; Gombe Branch Manager, Alhaji Abubakar Garba; North East Area Manager, Alhaji Yusuf Fagge and representative of the Bauchi State Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr Kasim Ibrahim, during the inauguration of the renovated block of two classrooms by the bank at Baba Sidi Primary School in Bauchi

Photo | News

L-R: President, Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Senior Pastor, Trinity House Zion Centre, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo; Mother of the slain Dubai Student/ Sport caster, Mrs. Aishat Falode; her daughter, Tolu and Mrs. Sanmi Awobuluyi, during a memorial remembrance thanksgiving service in commemoration of one year after the death of Aishat Falode’s only son, Toba in Dubai held at Trinity House ZionCentre in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

L-R: Jimmy Adewale Amu (DJ Jimmy Jatt); Nigerian Musician, Chidinma Ekile and former Nigerian Super Eagles Captain, Austin JJ Okocha, at the MTN Valentine Rave in Lagos L-R: Director of Pentaville Schools, Mrs. Omotayo Ukake; Chairman, Dr. Ben Ukadike; guest, Kola Osinoiki and Chairman, Resident and Landlords Association, Santos Layout Phase 1, Akowonjo, Mr. Haastrup Sunday, during the school’s Bi-Ennial Inter House Sports Competition in Lagos. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

L-R: Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Prof. Taiwo Abioye; Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charles Ayo, and Registrar, Dr. Oludayo Olumuyiwa, during a media briefing to announce the university’s ranking as the first in West Africa by Webometrics, in Ota

L-R: Managing Editor, The Nation, Mr. Waheed Odusile; Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Wahab Oba and Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Chapter, Mr, Deji Elumoye, during the union’s congress, in Ikeja, Lagos. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

L-R: Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri; Registrar, University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), Mrs. Rifkatu H. Swanta and Chairman, Bonat Job Tagwai, during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between UniAbuja and NOA, in Abuja …at the weekend

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (right), with Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2, Mr. Joseph Mbu, during Mbu’s visit to the governor in Abeokuta..

News

PROVE IT Gov Fayose advises predecessor to prove rigging claim in court instead of bellyaching Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has told the former Governor of the State, Kayode Fayemi, to go to court to prove his (Fayemi's) claim that the last June governorship election in the state was rigged. He also advised Fay-

Ambode: Group raises the alarm over fake medical report

MONday, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

south - WEST

Audio clip: Go to court, Fayose tells Fayemi emi not to waste time in producing the soldiers that were allegedly used to manipulate the process in favour of him (Fayose) and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Speaking to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the governor said as far as he was concerned, Fayemi was only mourning his electoral loss, urging him to get over the shock and move on. Fayose was reacting to Fayemi's and the All Progressives Congress' claims that they are in possession of the audio clip, revealing how soldiers were used to rig the poll in favour of, Fayose .

"The soldiers must be able to explain and produce evidence of how and where they committed the electoral heist in a court of competent jurisdiction. The soldiers should come to give evidence and explain where and how they were instructed to rig the election, whether they were instructed to thumb print ballot papers, or they were instructed to snatch ballot boxes, how many of such ballot papers they thumb printed and the number of boxes they snatched," he said. Continuing, he said, "Fayemi, was only playing to the gallery. For those who heard my

voice, it was me accusing General Aliyu Momoh, of colluding with the All Progressives Congress to rig the election. "The problem Fayemi was having is the defeat he suffered in the 16 local government areas of the state. He is yet to recover from the shock, and he is fretting over the prospect of going down in political history of Nigeria as the first sitting governor to suffer such monumental defeat. "The defeat suffered by Fayemi in that election will, in no distant future, become a case study by political scholars in universities across the country. All that Fayemi is

trying to do is to rubbish election adjudged best by local and international observers. I see him simply as a rabble-rouser. "I used to have respect for him before now, but events after the election have exposed his true colour that he is not a democrat, but a pretender. If APC doesn't win, the election is rigged, but once the victory goes their way, it is the most credible election in the world. And these are people claiming to have schooled under Barak Obama. "In 2011, when my defeat was very glaring, just like what we have now, I did not go about disparag-

Temitope Ogunbanke

group, the Eko Liberation Movement, has raised the alarm over an attempt by a faceless group to procure a fake medical report to discredit the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode from participating in the April 11 governorship election. In a statement made available to New Telegraph yesterday, the convener of Eko Liberation Movement, Mr. Gbolahan Agboola, declared that Ambode was sound in mind, body and spirit, insisting that no amount of propaganda by the desperate opposition, to discredit him would change the group's resolve to support the APC candidate in his bid to keep Lagos on the track of greatness and prosperity. “It has come to our notice that a faceless group was trying to procure a fake medical report like they did to the presidential candidate of the APC, General Mohammadu Buhari, that he had prostate cancer. These agents of destabilization seem to be ready to do anything in order to stop the progress of Lagos. Their latest antics was to claim that Ambode had suffered a strange mental illness. “It seems that there is no morality in this war to ‘capture’ Lagos this time around. We cannot be hoodwinked or deceived by any false claim from any group or individual. Ambode is our man for the job of moving Lagos to the next level.

L-R: Former Commissioner for Justice, Osun State, Wale Afolabi; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Sunday Akere and former Special Adviser to the Governor on Sports, Youths and Special Needs, Biyi Odunlade, during an interreligious prayers session on the victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, in Osogbo…at the weekend.

APC accuses PDP of plot to discredit polls Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

sun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday raised the alarm that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government in the country has concluded its plan to discredit the forthcoming general election, even before they hold, alleging that the ploy was to plunge the country into chaos by rejecting its imminent inevitable loss at the poll. The party's Director of

publicity and strategy in the state, Kunle Oyatomi, who raised the alarm in a statement in Osogbo, said, 'The PDP was again, stoking a number of dangerous issues like demanding 100 per cent distribution of Permanent Voters' Cards and likely to call for the scrapping of the use of card readers in the election, and create an atmosphere to discredit the election, which can explode into violence. Oyatomi, however, called on Nigerians to stand firm and prepare to use the power of their votes to remove the PDP,

from office before it destroys democracy and set the country backward for another period of sufferings, and abysmal dehumanisation. He noted further, "In a clinical assessment of the actions of the PDP in the last four weeks, which has led to the abortion of February 14 presidential polls, and in the run up to the new date of March 28 against which the PDP is again flying two dangerously destructive kites, the APC claimed it had come to the conclusion that the PDP has become the greatest threat yet to

the survival of the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria." 'The PDP is not even bothered what it has caused the country, in terms of economic and political instability as a result of its abortion of the February 14 presidential election, which has patently overheated the polity." 'When the PDP lost the argument of postponement, it used the service chiefs to stage a veritable coup against INEC's determination to proceed with the exercise, thereby aborting power change."

Economy: Wake up call to Nigerians –Ekiti’s HOS Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Head of Service, Dr. Olugbenga Faseluka, has said that the current economic challenges facing the country was a wake-up call for all the tiers of government and the people of Nigeria

to develop and explore other sectors of the economy. This, he said, would expand the revenue base of states and reduce their over-dependence on federal allocation, which has over the years made the people indolent. Faseluka, said in a statement in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday in Ikogosi, while

declaring open a workshop on the review of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF 2014-2016) for local councils in the state. The H.O.S, who noted that the slide in the global price of crude oil, had adversely affected the economy of Nigeria, said Ekiti State, as well as oth-

er states of the federation, were not exempted from the brunt of the economic downturn, which has led to huge shortfalls in revenue accruing to the three tiers of government. He added, that the economic challenges needed radical and creative thinking and problem solving skills.

ing the winner, instead, I went back to prepare for the next election, in any election, one person must win.

Election postponement, plot to avoid a credible poll, says Agunbiade Tony Okuyeme

member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Ikorodu Constituency 1, Hon. S.O.B Agunbiade, has condemned the postponement of the general election, initially scheduled for February 14 and 28, describing it as illmotivated plot to avert a free and fair election that would reflect the sovereign will of the people. Agunbiade, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated this during a press briefing on the postponed general elections, as well as the celebration of the presidential candidate of the APC, General Mohammadu Buhari , on Saturday February 14, 2015, at his Constituency office, Ikorodu, Lagos. “Saturday 14th of February 2015, was the day, originally fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Nigerians to elect a new President and members of the National Assembly that will superintend the affairs of the country, from 2015 to 2019."

Covenant varsity’s ranking gives Nigeria hope, says VC Mojeed Alabi

he Vice-Chancellor of Covenant University (CU) Ota, Ogun State, Prof. Charles Ayo, has described the latest ranking of the institution by both Webometrics and Repositories Ranking as the best in the West African sub-region and 15th on the continent, as a good omen for Nigeria, saying the nation’s dry bones shall rise again. At a media briefing at the weekend, the vicechancellor dedicated the glory to God and the foresight of the ivory tower’s Chancellor and Founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo.

Uchenna Inya Abakaliki

he Ebonyi State Attorney-General and Commissioner for the Justice, Dr. Ben Igwenyi, has faulted members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, for declaring four seats of the lawmakers’ vacant, saying that by the lawmakers action, the Fourth Assembly has ceased to exist constitutionally. Igwenyi, while speaking to newsmen, said that the House shot itself on

101

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Ebonyi Attorney–General, Assembly Ufomba warns clash over members’ suspension against the foot in a bid to achieve some inglorious goals. “There is presently no House of Assembly in the State as section 91 of the 1999 constitution stipulates that a State House of Assembly must be constituted by not less than 24 members and not more than 40 to operate constitutionally.

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

3.02%

He noted that the House has 24 members and when four seats are declared vacant, it would then consist of 20 members which was not up to the number that can form a valid assembly. “If they were sensible enough, they would have suspended the affected members to achieve

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Kenya in 2004. Source: Itu.int

whatever objective they had, but the House has dissolved itself now. Igwenyi directed the police to seal-off the Assembly to prevent the lawmakers from sitting since they have brought the House of Assembly to an end by declaring four seats vacant. He noted that there is no House of Assembly

2.4bn

The estimated number of people that will be without improved sanitation in 2015. Source: Itu.int

in the state until a byeelection is held to make the number 24 again. “The section 109 sub section 1 (g) of the 1999 constitution which the speaker quoted in making the resolution was not duly comprehended and followed by the members before making the resolution.

1.4m

The total population of men in Mongolia in 2012. Source: Un.org

L-R: Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Iyom Bianca Ojukwu; Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano and Chief Emeka Ojukwu Jnr, during the flag-off of the Youth Empowerment/Skills Acquisition Center at Nnewi…at the weekend

Norman Obinna

he Progressive People’s Alliance, (PPA) governorship candidate in Abia State, Sir Chikwe Udensi, has said that he dumped the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) because the party has lost its vision, which was solely to effect positive changes in the nation’s political system, particularly in Abia State.

Why I dumped APGA for PPA –Udensi He said this during his tour of Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, at the weekend, at in the palace of His Royal Majesty, Eze Jerry Akpala Igwe (Aka Ji Ofo Item) of Okoko Item, where he rounded off his meeting with all Item traditional rulers. Udensi, who admitted that he never real-

ized the strength of the PPA in Abia State, until he joined the party, also blamed his leaving the APGA on the National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, whom he accused of destroying the APGA with his selfish interest. For instance, he noted that Umeh admitted that he brought in Dr. Alex Otti, a

former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant through the backdoor and offered him the APGA ticket through a dubious primary election. He said that the arrangement between Umeh and Otti was the reason for the tussle in the APGA, which he said, has led to the emergence

of three parallel gubernatorial candidates of Ufomba, Otti and Ahiwe. His words, “I am a man who believes that things should be done with morality, when I heard that Otti was going to pick up APGA form, I was ready to go into primaries with him. “But I don’t know that it

another poll shift Igbeaku Orji UMUAHIA

he governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Chief Reagan Ufomba, has cautioned against further shift in the timetable of the general election, saying that any further postponement would cause serious damage to the country’s democracy. Ufomba, who gave the warning at his country home, Umuogele Ntigha, Isiala Ngwa North Local Government, during a meeting with his kinsmen, also accused the Abia State government of looting the treasury and vowed to recover all funds looted by the present administration. He accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of manipulating the electoral process to its advantage, saying the people would resist any further shift of the election or tampering with the May 29 hand over date which the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said remained sacrosanct.

has been arranged before hand with Umeh who hurriedly removed APGA Abia State chairman, Prince Ukaegbu and replaced him with Otti’s man, as well as changed the delegates in order to pave way for Otti’s emergence. So, it became very clear that there will not be a fair primaries and instead of me to stay and allow them do what they want to do, I left and joined the PPA.”

N16.5bn bond: Elechi asked to explain fraud allegation Fee hike: UNN post-graduate students suspend protest Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

he allegation of financial misappropriation against Governor Martin Elechi’s administration in Ebonyi State, took another twist at the weekend, as the governor was challenged to exonerate himself by publishing all transactions in the N16.5 billion bond sought through the Nigerian capital market in 2010. The governor was also, asked to make public, how he spent the N1.1bn from the coffers of SURE-P, the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and

the pension funds. Chief Abia Onyike, who stated this yesterday in Abakaliki, while briefing newsmen, said that Governor Elechi’s eight years rule has been characterized by several constitutional breaches which include the illegal appointment of 28 development center coordinators, 13 LGA Caretaker Committee Chairmen and the appointment of civil service commission, without the approval of the State House of Assembly members. Onyike, who is the Director, Media and publicity, Divine mandate campaign

organisation, alleged that the governor paid the sum of between N58m and N68m into the private accounts of each of the 13 local government Caretaker Committee Chairmen, for the funding of the Labour Party(LP) and for personal uses in the state. He stated that the projects embarked upon by Elechi, especially the Ochudo City, has not been completed, even after gulping over N50 billion in the past eight years, amounting to huge debt burden, against the people of the state and the incoming administration in the state.

Uwakwe Abugu ENUGU

ostgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN ), may have agreed to suspend their boycott of academic activities following the protest that greeted the introduction of increased tuition by the school authorities, at the beginning of the current session. Checks at the Nsukka and Enugu campuses of the institution, at the weekend, showed that the postgraduate students may have capitulated after challenging the Vice-Chancel-

lor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, over the astronomical increase in their school fees from about N68,000 to about N129,000 per session for a post-graduate student, which be more, depending on the faculty. The students had embarked on a protest at the Nsukka Campus of the institution a few weeks ago, leading to the indefinite suspension of all postgraduate programmes by the university authority, on the order of the Senate of the institution. Most of the students, during the peaceful protests mainly at the Franco areas of

the postgraduate hostels pointed to another N25,000 compulsory acceptance fee paid by all fresh postgraduate students. It was revealed that some first year postgraduate students of the institution, may end up paying as much N154,000. It was equally gathered that many of them have backed out of the programme, as one of the students, a cleric, said, “I have already paid N25,000 acceptance fee, but I tell you that it would be pretty difficult for me to pay the main fees and that means that I may defer the admission.

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-SOUTH

Provost, bursar in trouble over TETfund sleaze in Edo REVELATION Review of TETfund’s processes exposes startling revelation of the fund’s mismanagement Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

serious drama is playing out between workers and management of the College of Education, Ekiadolor, Edo State over alleged shoddy deals in the handling of Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund) made available by the Federal Government to

the institution. Startling revelation during the review of Tetfund processes and financial transaction with various institutions, showed one of the nominees of the College of Education, who as a principal officer, is not qualified to benefit from the TETfund Conference Attendance Intervention Programme was listed for such benefit, an exercise that is against the policy of the fund. A top official of TETFund, Mr. B. M. Umoh, on behalf of the executive secretary of the agency, had in a letter dated June 6, 2014, with reference number: TETF/AST&D.D/6.12/ NOM-CA/BAS&BNAS,

queried the College Bursar, Esekhile Ehiremen, whose name was smuggled in as a beneficiary of TETfund conference, which according to the letter, is against its policy. The letter said: “In view of the above, you are kindly requested to recover N1, 500, 005.00 from Mr. Esekhile Emmanuel Ehiremen and lodged same in your TETfund dedicated account and forward evidence of such to the fund.” The letter added that the amount so recovered should be used to pay two staff of the institution, who were earlier omitted and short paid in the earlier release by the Federal Government’s

agency in the following order; N793, 960.00 (omitted) and N650, 000 (short paid) respectively. The letter was titled ‘Re: Year 2010 and 2013 (merged) TETfund conference attendance intervention: release of funds (1st batch CA disbursement)’ Following the discovery of the alleged financial misapplication, members of Coalition of Union of Edo State Owned Tertiary Institutions, Ekiadolor chapter, at the weekend, raised the alarm over the inability of management of the college to remit to the union’s TETfund trust fund deductions and the non-payment of December, 2014 and Jan-

uary, 2015 salary arrears respectively. The members at a meeting held in Benin, threatened fire and in the process while they also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the management of the institution to pay to both the union’s trust fund deductions and the outstanding salary arrears for the two months to enable them meet their demands or risk another strike action. But Provost of the College, Prof. Amen Uhunmwangho, when contacted said “wait for me till tomorrow (Monday) and if you cannot wait for my reaction, I will be happy to read the report tomorrow.”

L-R: Regional Health Manager, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Dr. Femi Oduneye; Commissioner for Health, Bayelsa State, Dr. Ayibatonye Owei; incoming Managing Director and Country Chair of SPDC, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko; Managing Director, SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu and others at the signing of the Shell-funded N1bn Oloibiri, Bayelsa State Health Project in commemoration of Nigeria’s centenary in Lagos

Uduaghan expresses anxiety DELSU nurses fears of decertification of course over INEC’s preparedness Joe Obende Warri

elta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has expressed anxiety over the preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the forthcoming general election. The governor spoke over the weekend on the state’s radio and television phone-in programme, on Delta State Broadcasting Service, monitored in Warri. Even though the governor welcomed the idea of a shift in the polls’ dates by INEC, he still expressed doubts that the electoral umpire could be ready within the time of the extension. He said even if INEC was ready, no one could

tell if the military, which had instigated the shift in election dates would be ready in six weeks. No one, he added, could tell how long it would take the soldiers to rout Boko Haram, the reason over which they asked for the time extension. The Islamic sect has held the country to ransom by its occupation of parts of the North East these past six years. He maintained that there was no way elections would be held without proper security in the country. It was not certain too, he pointed out, that INEC would have been through with the distribution of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) within the given time frame going by the low percentage that had been released so far.

Dominic Adewole ASABA

he Provost of the Faculty of Engineering, Delta State University (DELSU), Oleh campus, Prof. Benjamin Okoba, has raised the alarm over what he described as imminent disaccreditation of courses of the institution if urgent steps are not taken to address the issue in due course. Okoba categorically said the campus, which currently possesses an interim accreditation, “is on the brink of being disaccredited for lack of manpower and facilities to run its faculties. To this effect, he said the institution has not admitted new students into its faculty in the last three years. To avert the problem,

the provost led a delegation of top management of the institution to the Chairman of Isoko South Local Government, the host council area, Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, to solicit for solution to the problem. According to the provost, the faculty could boast of adequate physical structures that are practically empty of requisite manpower and facilities befitting of an engineering department of study. He said: “The faculty has acute shortage of qualified staff as the Civil Engineering Department has only four permanent staff with a lecturer as the Head of Department (HoD). This regrettably is almost the same in all the departments and even in the Faculty of Law.”

Udom to site sports academy, cosmetic industry in Ika Tony Anichebe Uyo

ka Local Government area of Akwa Ibom State has received assurance that a sports academy and cosmetic industry will be established in the area. Dropping the hint during a courtesy call at the palace of Obong Stephen Isong Uyo, the paramount ruler of Ika Local Government, yesterday in continuation of his state-wide governorship campaign, the PDP candidate, Udom Emmanuel, called on the people of Ika to vote en masse for the party in the coming election. The PDP standard bearer said: “Owing to the abundance of palm produce in Ika, a cosmetic industry will have to be put in place to make optimum use of the raw material used in manufacturing cosmetic goods. Emmanuel pledged to ensure the completion of all ongoing road projects undertaken by Governor Godswill Akpabio and initiate new ones, especially the Mboho Ekong street to Uneze roundabout to ease the transportation needs of the people. He reiterated his vow that as an in-law of Abak Five, whose wife hails from the lineage of Obong Sampson UdoIdiong, he will not betray them.

Traditional rulers mobilise communities for PVCs Clement James Calabar

raditional rulers in Cross River State are moving from one community to another within their domain to sensitise people on the need to collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs). The Chairman of the council of traditional rulers in the state, Etinyin Etim Okon Edet, made this disclosure yesterday in Calabar during an interactive session with journalists. He said as custodians of the traditions of the people and given the immense influence they wield on the people, all the monarchs agreed that there was need for them to personally sensitise the people instead of leaving the job for government alone. “I have just returned from mobilising the people in my

area for them to go and collect their PVCs. All the traditional rulers in the state are doing the same thing, because we agreed that being close to the people, we have to enlighten them on the need to have their PVCs,” the monarch said. He said although traditional rulers are apolitical; they owe the state and the country the responsibility to enlighten the people and to guide them to make the right choice. “You know that without the PVC, nobody can vote and without voting there is no democracy. We are trying to ensure that people exercise their franchise. We let them know that they must vote for the candidate of their choice, who will impact on their lives. But they must first have the card for them to vote,” he said.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

News 49

NORTH

Nyako petitions NJC over conduct of two Adamawa judges Ibrahim Abdul Yola

he former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, has petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the role played by the incumbent Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Justice Ishaya K. Banu and the former Acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ambrose Mammadi, in denying him justice

over his impeachment. In the petition which was made available to journalists, Nyako accused the two of severally denying him justice through their actions and inactions, which stampeded the course of justice delivery. While accusing Justice Banu, Nyako said in order to subvert the course of justice against him, Banu willfully delayed proceedings involving the suit he filed since

August 2014. “From August 2014, when the case was assigned to him to date, no substantial progress was made. He has used every ploy to delay the case to the extent of even deliberately refusing to return to Yola from Abuja on a date he fixed for hearing, even when our legal team endeavoured to be in Yola from Abuja and Lagos. “He also gives long adjournments and refuses to attend court on

days he fixes for hearing. He creates unnecessary bottlenecks in the case, hindering the delivery of justice,” Nyako alleges. He similarly accused Banu of trying to interfere in another case involving him by applying to be joined as interested party when he had no legal interest to protect in the matter. “As a judicial officer in whose court a case is pending, what does his involvement connote

other than bias and a desire to ensure that justice is delayed, which is justice denied. “How could a judicial officer be so biased as to abuse his privileged position and protection under the law to be joined in suit involving a private citizen demanding for justice in an action designed to challenge his right to fair hearing?” Nyako queried. While accusing the former Acting Judge,

Ambrose Mammadi, of double standards, Nyako decried that Mammadi, who refused to grant a request filed by the Speaker, Adamawa State House of Assembly for an order to serve Nyako notice of impeachment through advertisement in two newspapers, insisting that service must be personal, he took a contrary action by acceding to the request of the House to constitute a seven-man panel, which were used to impeach him.

Abuja DISCO laments low energy supply Muhammad Bashir Lokoja

he Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) yesterday said a total energy of 11.5 megawatts is being allocated to it for daily distribution to customers in Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Head, Public Relations and Media to AEDC, Ahmed Shekarau, told journalists that the volume, in summary, reaches 450 megawatts even at peak generation periods, but that the amount is insufficient to meet the demands of the company’s customers in the areas covered. He blamed the reduction in the four hours rationing period in Lokoja on the low allocation of power to the company, saying that it is not the wish of AEDC to cause hardship to its customers. According to him, it is not only within the company’s coverage area of FCT, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States that was affected, saying that it is a nationwide problem. “The AEDC is, however, optimising its loadshedding to address part of the problem in the short term.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo (right), being received by Kaduna State Governor, Mukthar Yero, at the Kaduna Airport for a sensitisation and mobilisation seminar towards a violence-free general election in Nigeria …yesterday

‘Niger govt borrows N5bn to rig election’ Dan Atori MINNA

s political parties prepare for the forthcoming general elections, the Niger State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state government of borrowing N5 billion to rig for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party, through its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jonathan Vatsa, said

•It’s not true, says gov’s aide while addressing journalists in Minna that the state Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs borrowed N3 billion, while the state government borrowed N2 billion to make the total debt borrowed from a commercial bank to be N5 billion. However, the state government has described the APC’s claim as untrue and dismissed it as

Pandemonium as rampaging thugs vandalise Akume’s cyber cafe Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

akurdi, the Benue State capital was, at the weekend, thrown into pandemonium when gunmen suspected to be political thugs, launched attacks on a cyber cafe belonging to the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume. Investigation by New Telegraph, however, showed that the thugs, loyal to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were be-

lieved to be responsible for the attacks, which our correspondent further learnt was a reprisal attack. The PDP hoodlums, according to findings, were revenging attacks against the personal assistant to the PDP House of Representatives’ candidate for Makurdi/ Guma, John Tondu. The rampaging thugs also extended their attack to the campaign office of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

governorship candidate, Chief Samuel Ortom, where they pulled down flags and broke campaign vehicles with stones. Media Adviser to the Ortom Campaign Organisation, Tahav Agerzua, said: “The attacks have been launched from several flanks, including litigations, unfounded allegations and outright campaigns of calumny as well as mischief on platforms including the social, print and electronic media.”

‘lies from the pit of hell.’ In a counter statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Israel Ebije, the government called on the opposition to produce documents to back its claims. Ebije said: “It is common knowledge that the prevailing economic crunch has made it difficult for many states to even pay salaries except

for Niger and a few states. It is also common knowledge that no bank will grant any loan facility to a government in a transition period. It is, therefore, pathetic for a political party to construct cheap lies that has no substance.” Vatsa added that the government borrowed the money from a commercial bank for the purpose of buying over security agencies and INEC in the rigging of the election

in favour of the PDP. He alleged that the Niger State government had recently summoned a meeting with all INEC state electoral officers, where the deal to assist the ruling party in rigging the election was done, adding that “at the end of the meeting, each electoral officer was given N100, 000 while it was also agreed that N3 million would be released to them when the election commenced.”

Unpaid salaries: Teachers, Bauchi govt reach agreement Mohammed Kawu Bauchi

he about 5, 000 teachers recruited by the Bauchi State government in April last year have reached an agreement with their employer on the settlement of the outstanding salary arrears owed them. The teachers, last week, staged a peaceful demonstration to press for the payment of the almost 10 months outstanding salaries, which they attributed to breakdown in

communication between them and the Ministries of Education and Finance. Addressing a press briefing in Bauchi at the weekend, the teachers, who came together under the aegis of ‘Like Minds,’ said they were unhappy with the state government for the delay in the payment of their cumulative salaries, having worked for almost 10 months without pay. Leading the ‘Like Minds,’ Mohammed Umar, who addressed journalists on behalf of the group, expressed dis-

may that the state government was only able to pay them two months salaries out of the outstanding arrears at the time of the briefing. Umar recalled that during one of the numerous meetings they held with government officials to ensure payment of the salaries, the Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Education, a promised that they would be paid part of the salaries in December, 2014 and January, 2015, which was done by the government.

WORLD | News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Croatia's first female president sworn in

roatia's first female president, Kolinda G r a b a r- K i t a r ov i c, was sworn in yesterday and pledged to help kickstart the EU member's ailing economy. The 46-year-old conservative former foreign minister and NATO official narrowly defeated her left-wing predecessor Ivo Josipovic in

an election run-off in January. The leading member of the main opposition HDZ party will serve a five-year term. "I will be a top economic diplomat of our country," she said in her inaugural speech. She pledged to do her utmost "to make Croatia a wealthy nation." "I want that after almost two years of (EU) membership,

we all eventually start to live the life of a European Union member," Grabar-Kitarovic said. Hopes that EU membership would boost the economy of the small Adriatic nation of 4.2 million have faded. The Croatian economy, hit by a six-year recession, remains among the weakest in the 28-nation bloc. Unemployment is almost 20 percent

and the government forecasts a meagre 0.5 percent growth this year. Grabar-Kitarovic gave her speech immediately after the swearing-in ceremony at Saint Marc's square in the old quarter of Zagreb. Apart from hundreds of Croatians and top local officials the inauguration was also attended by the presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina,

Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia and Slovenia. Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was also present. The Croatian president has a largely ceremonial role. Grabar-Kitarovic is the former Yugoslav republic's fourth president since its independence in 1991.

Ukraine truce holds despite sporadic shelling

Kolinda Graba-Kitarovic is being sworn in as president of Croatia in Zagreb yesterday.

Congo spurns UN support for campaign against Rwandan rebels

emocratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has spurned a United Nations offer of support for a military campaign against Rwandan Hutu rebels inside the country, and criticised international interference in its affairs. U.N peacekeepers were due to support an operation against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) but suspended cooperation last week because two Con-

golese generals tapped to lead the campaign are accused of human rights abuses. The MONUSCO peacekeepers say their support is key to defeating the estimated 1,400 rebels, who have been at the heart of conflict in Africa's Great Lakes region for two decades. But Kabila told diplomats in the capital the operation in the east had already started without help from the MONUSCO peacekeepers, and the government would work alone.

"The Democratic Republic of Congo today renounces, in the most official manner, the support of MONUSCO to track the FDLR. We are going to track them alone," government spokesman Lambert Mende quoted Kabila as saying. Congo announced the formal start of operations against the FDLR more than two weeks ago but no combat has been reported and some analysts doubt the appetite of the government to wage the fight unilaterally.

German city cancels parade over â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Islamist attack' threat

he German city of Braunschweig cancelled a planned carnival procession Sunday because of a "specific threat of an Islamist attack", police said. The event, which was to begin at 1120 GMT, was called off two hours earlier following a tip by "reliable state security sources", police said in a statement. "Police request all visitors not to go to the planned parade route or not to make the trip to Braunschweig in the first place," the statement said. Police chief Michael Pientka told public broadcaster NDR there was no link between the cancellation and two fatal attacks in Copenhagen Saturday, which came little more than a month after Islamist attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead. He later told a news conference that there had been no arrests, nor any explosives or weapons

found. Pientka said that unspecified security authorities had informed the police late Saturday about the threat and added that the information had been "very concrete in terms of the place and time" of a planned attack. He said the region around Braunschweig had a well-known Islamist scene "but until now we did not believe it was of this type" to mount attacks. Organisers said the annual event in Braunschweig, which has a more than 800year tradition, was normally the biggest parade in northern Germany during February's Roman Catholic carnival season with up to 250,000 visitors expected. More than 4,000 participants in fancy dress usually march and ride floats down a six-kilometre (four-mile) route through the city. The decision to call it off was taken by Mayor Ulrich Markurth

and the parade's marshal, Gerhard Baller. "This is a sad day for our city," Markurth told NDR. "The assessment of the police however left us with no other choice." The Rose Monday processions, which mark the height of the carnival period, were scheduled to go ahead the next day in the western cities of Cologne, Duesseldorf and Mainz. "We have no indication of threats," a spokesman for the regional interior ministry told news agency DPA. "We assume everything will go ahead as planned." Soon before the announcement, the federal interior ministry said it had not raised its threat level for Germany following the Danish attacks. "We have no specific indications of planned attacks in Germany," a ministry spokeswoman told DPA.

ighting dropped sharply across eastern Ukraine yesterday but there was still sporadic shelling after a ceasefire came into force, the first step in a fragile peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict. AFP journalists heard occasional artillery fire coming from the direction of the flashpoint town of Debaltseve, where pro-Russian rebels waged fierce battles to surround Ukranian forces in the hours leading up to the truce. Elsewhere, pro-Kiev officials said two civilians were killed when shelling hit the town of Popasna in Lugansk region just 20 minutes after the start of the ceasefire at midnight (2200 GMT Saturday). Ukraine's military said that across the conflict zone its forces had come under fire 10 times but that shooting had tailed off since 3:00 am (0100 GMT). "In general the situation in east Ukraine appears to be heading towards stabilisation," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. The latest deal between Ukraine and the rebels, hammered out in Minsk Thursday after marathon talks involving the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, is seen as the best hope to stop fighting that has killed over 5,480 since April. But trust is low on all sides and scepticism remains high after the collapse of a September ceasefire. The rebels' defence ministry said the truce was being "generally respected" but accused Ukraine of shooting around Debaltseve. The vital transport hub is seen as the flashpoint most likely to torpedo the ceasefire, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warning that the truce was "threatened" by the separatist action there. Rebels have warned that any attempt

to move the thousands of government troops they claim to have trapped in Debaltseve will be seen as aggression and draw a response. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mandated to monitor the truce said rebels had blocked access to the town. The ceasefire was "overall respected" but there had been an exchange of artillery around Debaltseve from around 0800 GMT, the OSCE said. Deputy regional police chief Ilya Kiva told AFP that shooting in the town and the nearby village of Chornuhine had dropped off but not stopped entirely. "We hope that it will just take a bit of time before we get a full ceasefire. It is not an immediate process." In the town of Yenakieve, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Debaltseve, a rebel commander called Alexei poured cold water on the truce. "There is no ceasefire around Debaltseve and their won't be one. Shooting continues," he told AFP. Ukraine's military said rebels were still trying to occupy Chornuhine and were moving heavy weaponry towards a village close to the key government-held port city of Mariupol. International pressure is high on both sides to stick to the latest deal and prevent an escalation of the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War. Poroshenko is to speak later yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two leaders who helped broker the ceasefire, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to underline "the importance of full implementation" of the ceasefire.

Morsi goes on trial for spying

new trial for Egypt's ousted ex-president has begun in Cairo, with prosecutors accusing him of spying and leaking confidential information to Qatar. The hearing was swiftly adjourned and a new date set for February 28 after the court ruled that the defense should consult with Mohammed Morsi and the other 10 defendants in the case. Morsi faces several other ongoing trials, including one where he stands charged

with inciting the killing of protesters and for which he could face the death penalty. Other charges have yet to be brought to trial. Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected leader, but his turbulent one-year rule left the country sharply divided. From the defendant's cage in the courtroom yesterday, Morsi said, "I am the legitimate president and this trial is a farce."

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY,FEBRUARY 16, 2015

International Sport

Sport News

Eagles Round up

Eaglets shock Niger 2-0 at home

NBA Slam Dunk contest: Secondplace finish thrills Oladipo

Ighalo’s scoring form continues

Sport

Did you know? That the highest attendance in an EPL match was 76,398 between Man Utd and Blackburn in 2007

Ideye attributes good run to self-belief Ifeanyi Ibeh

rown Ideye is beginning to enjoy his time at West Bromwich Albion after rediscovering his scoring touch. And he owes his newfound form to selfbelief, his teammates at the English Premier League club, as well as the club’s manager, Tony Pulis. After arriving from Dy-

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sport

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sport Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

namo Kiev in the summer, the Nigerian was expected to hit the ground running and lead the Baggies’ charge for a respectable mid-table finish. But he found goal scoring hard to come by in the first half of the season and was reportedly close to making a switch to the Qatari league on the final day of the winter transfer window. Since the start of February though, the Nigeria

international has seen his stock on the rise, and only on Saturday Ideye was an inspirational figure for the Baggies with two goals in a 4-0 FA Cup win over West Ham at the Hawthorns. Ideye scored his first of the game in the 20th minute, tapping in from close range, before grabbing his second, and West Brom’s third, on 57 minutes with a header. The two-goal perfor-

mance from the Nigerian took his goals tally for the Baggies from his last three games to four. And he owes it all to selfbelief, and a number of familiar faces at the EPL side. “I wouldn’t say that I lost confidence in my ability to score goals. There were times when the pressure affected me but I never lost faith; I never stopped believing,” Ideye told New Telegraph. “My teammates were there to encourage me and the boss (Pulis) also played a huge part. I am grateful to all of them and glad that I am able to repay them for having faith in me. “They all believed in me and I want to keep doing all that I can to help the team. All I have to do is to keep working hard for the team. “I believe in my abilities and I am quite confident going forward from here,” added the 26-year-old. Ideye’s views are consistent with those of West Brom manager, Pulis, who, in response to a question pertaining to Ideye’s new-found form in his post-match conference, said: “It’s confidence. That’s all it is. “Confidence is everything. He got that goal last week and he has gone on from there. And we are all delighted for him at the club because you could not ask to work with a nicer or more honest guy. “He has been desperate to do well and it is smashing to see him enjoying the fruits of his labours.”

Youth athletes aim high ahead of junior meet Charles Ogundiya

head of the African Junior Athletics Championship billed for Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, youth athletes have said they are battle ready to make the country proud. Speaking to our correspondent from their Sagamu camp, some of the athletes

said their target was to return to the country as champions. Nigeria as the defending champions would be contending with the hosts, Ethiopia and their biggest rival, South Africa. One of the athletes who will be competing in the 100m, Abolaji Omotayo, said she would be going there for the gold medal.

She was in Botswana the last time as a youth athlete, and although she won in her category, it didn’t really count for the country. “I was in Botswana last year with Team Nigeria, but I only competed in category B, now I am going there to win my first gold in 100m. “I am training hard now in other to achieve my target time before the competi-

tion which is to run 11.5secs. I know with dedication and hard work, I will achieve it,” the 17 year old said. The duo of Divine Oduduru and Ese Brume would be the star attractions at the competition that would start on March 4 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “I am going for gold and I am also certain that many of my colleagues are equally ready, “ Oduduru said.

SPORT

MONDAY,FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Eaglets shock Niger 2-0 at home

Lagos ITTF Tour: Egyptian stars warn Nigerian players Emmanuel Tobi

Ajibade Olusesan

gypt’s duo of Omar Assar and Nadeen El-Dawatly have warned Nigerian players to expect a tough tournament, while expressing their readiness to retain their title next month in the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour tagged Lagos Open. With all the expected players already confirmed for the fiveday championship, Assar, who recently won the ITTF Africa Senior Championship in Cairo said he would be willing to return to Lagos to retain the title. From 2013, when the tourna- Eaglets in action ment was first staged, Assar has clinched the title by beating Nigeria’s Segun Toriola in 2013 and also defeating compatriot, El-Sayed Lashin in 2014, and the world number 43 is hoping to tantalise the Lagos fans with his Charles Ogundiya entertaining style of play. igeria National League side, SpotThe ITTF Africa Senior Chamlights FC of Katsina, on Sunday pionships winner said: “I love qualified for the final of West African Lagos fans because there was Pre-Season tournament in Niamey, never any dull moment during capital of Niger Republic after defeatmy two trips to Nigeria and I am ing Kadarka FC 4-0 in one of the semilooking forward to defending my final games. title because I cherish the title Earlier, the Katsina-based side and the ever-supporting Lagos defeated Nasara 1-0, pipped Aspour fans.” 1-0 and hammered Kadarka 4-0 all “I am looking forward to come of Niger Republic. The final will to Lagos because the competition come up later today (Monday). has become part of me and I am Speaking to our correspondent, eager to come and enjoy myself. the team’s coordinator, Ayuba I know it is not going to be easy Umar, expressed satisfaction with against the Nigerians because the performance of the players and they have lot of quality players. charged them to sustain the tempo Also, El-Dawlatly who finished with a view to lifting the trophy. in third place at the ITTF Africa “It was a good way to prepare for Senior Championship is hoping the season. The players have been to return to Lagos where he de- doing well in the tournament and feated compatriot, Dina Meshref, I am happy with their character to clinch her first World Tour during the tourney. title. “I want to thank the state govThe Egypt Table Tennis Fed- ernment for sponsoring the team. eration is coming to Lagos with The tournament has given us the over 10 players for the tourna- belief that we can challenge for proment. motion to the Premier League this season.”

wo-time winners Nigeria made an impressive start to their 2015 CAF U17 championship by winning the opener against the hosts 2-0. Goals from Victor Osimhen after 18 minutes and captain Kelechi Nwakali’s beautiful free-kick from outside the box gave the two-time junior champions victory in an entertaining opener at the Stade Sey-

ni Kountche in Niamey. The hosts went closer with Souradjou Alhassane just before the break but could not test Nigeria goalkeeper Akpan Udoh. In the second half the Nigeriens rallied to try and get back into the game with striker Ibrahim Issoufou the main threat but the Eaglets were resolute at the back and held on to collect maximum points and pile pressure on the debutant hosts who

CAF competitions: Pillars, Wolves, Enyimba talk tough

Spotlights FC for pre-season tourney final

lDolphins suffer loss

Charles Ogundiya

igerian representatives in CAF competitions have declared their readiness to put up a good show in their continental outings after recording impressive results in their games over the weekend. Kano Pillars and Warri Wolves recorded impressive victories away from home to move a step closer to the next round of their respective competitions. In the CAF Champions League, Kano Pillars displayed seriousness with an emphatic 2-0 victory over home team, Al Malakia of South Sudan, while Warri Wolves defeated Racing Club Bobo of Burkina Faso 1-0 also away from home

Mali accept date change for Falcons

Oshoala

he Mali Football Federation has accepted a proposal by the Nigeria Football Federation for a qualifying fixture of the Women’s Football Tournament of 2016 Olympic Games between both nations’ Women Teams to be moved forward. African champions, Super Falcons, were scheduled to host the Malians on May 23 with the return leg in Nigeria on May 30 in the second round of qualifiers for the Women’s Football Tournament of the 2016 Olympics.

“We had to write to Confederation of African Football and the Malian Federation to consider bringing the matches forward by two weeks in order for our team to be able to head to Canada by May 19, for the final training camp for the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals,” NFF General Secretary Musa Amadu said. CAF had given the go-ahead for the NFF to contact the Malian Federation for both National Associations to agree between themselves. In its reply, dated February 13, General Secretary Yacouba Traore said the Mali Football Federation had agreed in principle. This means that the first leg will now take place in Nigeria on May 9, with the return leg in Bamako on May 16. Head Coach of the Super Falcons, Edwin Okon, at the weekend called to camp a total of 36 players to camp as part of preparation towards the 11th All-Africa Games qualifiers and 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers.

now face a ‘must-win’ clash against Zambia in their second Group A fixture. The opening match was preceded by a colourful ceremony depicting Niger’s history, culture and song and traditions. It was attended by the hosts’ President Mahamadou Issoufou, CAF president Issa Hayatou, Executive Committee of CAF and members of the Organising Committee of the CAFU17 championship.

Nigeria Premier League action between Enyimba and Kano Pillars

in the Confederation Cup. Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone, the General Manager of Kano Pillars, Umar Babangida, said, “We don’t want to settle for less again, we are going for the trophy. This is the beginning and it is very important to start very well. “The management decided to keep the bulk of the players that won the league and strengthen the team with better players to fill up areas where we were having problems,” he said. Similarly, Media Manager of Warri Wolves, Moses Etu, said despite the difficulties the team faced in Burkina Faso, they were able to put smile on the faces of Nigerians. He promised that the team would finish the job in Warri in two weeks time. Meanwhile, Dolphins lost 1-0 away to Leones Vegetarianos of Equatorial Guinea in their CAF Confederation Cup and would be hoping to turn the tide at home in the second leg. Also, Enyimba defeated Buffles du Borgou FC of Benin Republic 3-0 in the first leg preliminary round of the 2015 Caf Champions League played at the Aba Towship Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Strikes from Daniel Etor, Kingsley Sokari and Peter Onyekachi were all Kadiri Ikhana’s side needed to march to victory despite losing a penalty kick in the second half of the highly entertaining tie.

Danagogo celebrates Valentine with athletes S

ports Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Tammy Danagogo, has once again demonstrated that his purview goes beyond football as he took time off his busy schedule to share his Lovers Day programme with Nigeria’s junior athletes preparing for the African Junior Championship in Addis Ababa, next month. Accompanied by Athletics Federation President, Chief Solomon Ogba, and NSC Lagos Liaison boss, Francis Gbiri, the Minister, said he was in Shagamu, Ogun state, where the team is

preparing to assure them that the drive to discover new stars in athletics is on his mind and there was nothing anybody will do to deter him and the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan. He thereafter cut the Valentine cake with all the athletes in tow. Also in attendance were Seigh Porbeni, coaches superintendent and OgunkoyaOmotayo, who serves as camp commandant for the team that is billed to battle for honours in the African Junior Championship that runs from March 4 to 8 in Addis Ababa. AFN President, Ogba, speaking earlier praised

the Minister for finding out time from his busy schedule to be with the athletes on Valentine’s Day. He assured the minister that with his leadership, the athletes will not disappoint in the Addis Ababa tourney. Team Captain, Kelechi Nwanaga, who spoke on behalf of the team promised that she and her team were ready to make the nation proud at the championship, promising that with the visit of the minister, which she described as a big morale booster, the athletes owe the country a duty to deliver at the continental juniors.

International Sport 53

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY,FEBRUARY 16, 2015

ictor Oladipo has expressed his pride at finishing second in Saturday’s 2015 NBA Slam Dunk contest won by Zach LaVine. The Nigerian-American sent the crowd and contest judges into a frenzy with an acrobatic 360-degree reverse slam to receive the maximum 50 score from judges Julius Erving, Bernard King, Chris Mullin, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Nate “Tiny” Archibald. Minnesota Timberwolves’

NBA Slam Dunk contest: Second-place finish thrills Oladipo

Champions League

Luizwaryof‘veryspecial’ Hazard

P Oladipo

Bayern thrashing haunts Hamburg boss

amburg head coach Joe Zinnbauer has conceded that he will never forget the 8-0 defeat that his side suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich on Saturday afternoon. The visitors were 3-0 down at the break, before a further five goals after the restart completed the rout at the Allianz Arena. Speaking after the final whistle, Zinnbauer admitted that on the balance of play, the margin of the loss was justified. “I’ll not forget this day for the rest of my life. There’s not a lot to discuss when Robben (right) you’ve lost 8-0,” he told reporters. “We have to apologise to our fans because 8-0 is unbelievable, although we did meet incredibly strong opponents (on Saturday). The margin of victory is the right one.” The victory was Bayern’s largest in the Bundesliga for 30 years.

Sport Trending

TWITTER |@NTelegraphSport

Ideye Brown MON The lord has done great things in my life,I will always be thankful to him and no one else. #GreatGod #keeponbelieving #happysundayeveryone @OfficialIdeye John Ogu IDEYE Again!!!!!!Yaay

@ogujohnugo

EMMANUEL EMENIKE Great win today. Thank you JESUS. Love you. @E29EMENIKE Victor Oladipo Thanks for watching #SpriteSlam last night. Follow @ Sprite to find out the #WinningDunkName @VicOladipo

aris Saint-Germain defender David Luiz has admitted that he is wary of the threat that Chelsea’s Eden Hazard will pose when they meet in the Champions League this week. The Premier League leaders travel to the French capital on Tuesday, and the Brazil international has talked up Hazard the talent of his former who can decide which teammate, describing way the game goes.On him as “very special”. the favourite to win the Luiz told Telefoot: match, Luiz said: “I don’t “Chelsea are more bal- think so, at this level it anced than last year, they is 50/50. Before the game also have a Hazard who everyone can say anyhas been very special thing. It is like that. But this year. it is on the pitch that you “I hope he won’t be hav- have to prove it.” ing a good day against us, Luiz moved to the maybe I even hope that Ligue 1 champions from he has a bad day against Chelsea for around £50m us because he is a player in the summer.

Di Maria signing not amistake – Young

shley Young is certain Manches- Ronaldo, but he was the one who stood ter United did not make an ex- out for me in that team last season. “When you add quality to a squad pensive mistake in signing Angel that already has quality it can only help Di Maria. Di Maria joined United in August for us. We saw in the first couple of days in £59.7m from Real Madrid, smashing the training just how good a player Angel is club’s transfer record, and there were and what we can expect from him. He early signs it would prove to be money was definitely a great signing for us.” well spent. But the Argentina international has struggled to live up to his fast start, with a hamstring injury at the end of 2014 not helping, but Young is convinced United made a clever move in bringing him to Old Trafford. “Angel was a fantastic signing,” Young told United Uncovered. “Real Madrid have other top players in their team, like Gareth Bale and Cristiano Di Maria

Kolo Toure ends international career

Chiney Ogwumike And this was a MAJOR win for #Naija with 2 guys in the dunk contest!!! #Nigeria @Chiney321 Hakeem Olajuwon Great to be here at #NBAAllStarNYC with my new friends from Turkey @DR34M klay thompson Proud of my bro @StephenCurry30 greatest shooter in the history of the game! @KlayThompson

19-year-old LaVine was not prepared to disappoint fans and made sure to respond with a powerful acrobatic slam, to get the maximum score. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooklyn Nets’ Mason Plumlee were eliminated from the first round, leaving Oladipo and LaVine to battle for the title of new Slam Dunk king. In the decisive round, Oladipo missed a few slam attempts, and that was the moment LaVine came up with yet

Kolo Toure

iverpool defender Kolo Toure has retired from international football a week after winning the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast. The veteran defender is bringing to

an end his 15-year international career after playing in Ivory Coast’s 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup squads as well as seven Africa Cup of Nations. The 33-year-old, who won more than 110 international caps since making his debut in 2000, said: “It is with great emotion that I inform you that it is time to say goodbye.” “My goal was to win the Africa Cup of Nations and I must admit that it was a very difficult decision to make. “I do love my country and especially love football, but at some point, there comes a time to stop.”

another impressive dunk. LaVine prevailed, but Oladipo revealed it was “a dream come true even though I did not win, it is part of my dream”. “The way they did this year was the best way. Last year, whoever had the best dunk would win. I would have hoped to have won, but at the end of the day it was cool.” LaVine said: “I just wanted to come out with a bang. I tried to get 50 on every dunk... I wanted to show everybody what I got.”

Mayweather, Pacquiao set to announce mega fight loyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao have F agreed a deal to finally fight,

according to reports. The pair, widely considered to be the two best boxers in the world, have reportedly been negotiating terms for a bout since 2009. Both men have stepped up their interest this year, and British newspaper, The Telegraph, claims that Pacquiao has agreed to a deal that Mayweather is expected to sign within the week. The report says that the fight is likely to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2 and could be worth around £162m.

RESULTS

FA Cup WBA 4 – 0 West Ham Blackburn 4 – 1 Stoke Derby 1 – 2 Reading Crystal Palace 1 – 2 Liverpool Aston Villa 2 – 1 Leicester Bradford 2 – 0 Sunderland Arsenal 2-0 Middlesbrough

Serie A Sassuolo 1 – 3 Fiorentina Palermo 3 – 1 Napoli Milan 1 – 1 Empoli Torino 1 – 1 Cagliari Genoa 5 – 2 Hellas Atalanta 1 – 4 Inter Udinese 0 – 1 Lazio Roma 0 – 0 Parma

Primera División Sevilla 3 – 0 Córdoba Real Madrid 2 – 0 Deportivo Granada 0 – 0 Bilbao Málaga 0 – 2 Espanyol Valencia 1 – 0 Getafe Barcelona 5 – 0 Levante Roma 0 – 0 Parma

Bundesliga Bayern 8 – 0 Hamburger Leverkusen 4 – 5 Wolfsburg M'glabach 1 - 0 Köln Hoffenheim 2 – 1 Stuttgart Bremen 3 – 2 Augsburg Frankfurt 1 – 0 Schalke

SPORT

MONDAY,FEBRUARY 16, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Super eagles round up

Ighalo’s scoring form continues

lAs Balogun rescues point for club

igeria striker Odion Ighalo continued to dazzle with Watford as he scored his 15th league goal in ‘The Hornets’ 4-3 win away to Bolton Wanderers in the English championship. The ex-Flying Eagles captain opened the scoring for his side in the 25th minute, when he fired in a low drive past the Wanderers’ goalkeeper after he neatly beat his marker. He went on to set team captain Troy Deeney for the winner in the 90th minute. Meanwhile, Super Eagles defender, Leon Balogun, scored with two minutes left of regular time to help his German side, Darmstadt, pick a 1-1 draw against 1860 Munich. Jannik Bandowski gave Munich a 26-minute lead but Balogun, who was yellow carded in the 81st minute, rescued a point for his team two minutes later. The point gained moved them up to fourth in the German second division, three points behind Kaiserslautern who occupy second spot, the last automatic promotion spot.

Since Joining Darmstadt, the Nigerian defender has made 10 appearances for the team and the goal against Munich was his second of the season, after scoring in the 3-0 rout of Nuremburg last October.

Balogun joined the Bundesliga hopefuls in October, after the termination of his deal with Fortuna Dusseldorf where he missed the chunk of the season due to an ankle injured he suffered on his debut for Nigeria.

EmeniketipsFenerbachetobechampionsagain

mmanuel Emenike has backed Fenerbahce to retain the Turkish championship after they thrashed Gaziantespor 5-0 on Saturday with the Nigeria striker among the goal scorers. Fenerbache have now moved to the top of the table courtesy of this win as they have 46 points from 20 matches, two ahead of erstwhile leaders Besiktas, who have 44 points and a game in hand. Emenike, who opened the scoring for his team in the sev-

enth minute, told AfricanFootball.com that he would do his best for his club to retain the league title. “It was a sweet victory for the team, we showed great team spirit which is good for us as champions. “Every game is important for us to retain the league title, this is the best time for me and the entire team to keep working hard because this is the toughest time in the season and we must always be ready to conquer.

Reading boss hails ‘goal scorer’ Yakubu

eading FC manager Steve Clarke said Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s winner in the FA Cup against Derby County showed what the experienced striker could do for the club. On Saturday, the former Middlesbrough striker scored a superb goal, the winner in a 2-1 win at Derby County after spending just 11 minutes on the pitch to seal a quarterfinal berth. “We knew what we were getting when we signed him, Yak’s a goalscorer and we brought him in for games like that, when it’s open and you know you’re going to create chances towards the end,” Clarke said. “It was a great pass from Hal, who also took his goal very well. You expect Yak to hit the target there, nine times out of 10 he scores and thankfully for us today

Ighalo

(Saturday) was one of the nine! “The goal was exactly why I put him on! He came on midweek, got a good introduction to the Championship when he took an elbow to the face and broke his nose! But we fixed him up and he still looks gorgeous! It’s not a surprise when he scored in that goal.” Describing his debut, Yak said he was desperate to play in the game especially against his former coach, Steve McClaren. “I was desperate to go on, I told our manager I wanted to go on. Derby manager Steve McClaren pulled me back on the touchline and joked with me, telling me ‘don’t do it, don’t go on and score’, but I did it. “I never wrote it off coming back to England, never say never. Reading gave me the chance to come back so I’m happy to be here,” Yak said.

LMC begs governors not to ignore clubs for politics

he League Management Company, LMC, has drawn the attention of state governments that fund Glo Premier League clubs to the need to provide the clubs management with needed funds to prepare for and participate in the 2014/15 football league season scheduled to kick off March 7. In a recent interview, the out-going chairman of the league body, Nduka Irabor, said the LMC recognises that election campaigns have occupied the time of most politi-

cal office holders including the respective state governors but pleaded that they should also consider the exigency of the clubs meeting the requirements which include financial to participate in the league. “The feelers that we are getting right now is that officials are neck-deep into campaigning, please if you are serious about professional football all these proprietors who happen to be the state governments should make out time and give the clubs money they need to prepare,” Mr. Irabor said.

The LMC has led an advocacy for expanded revenue generation by clubs and championed a switch to community ownership of clubs from the government funding that has seemingly not met requirements for the business side of football. “We know the peculiar environment we operate in, we do not have the best infrastructure and we do not have the best funding system for our clubs but we do hope those who own these clubs live up to their responsibility and make funds available to the clubs,” Irabor added.

Rangers’ Ugonna Uzochukwu in aerial challenge with Enyimba’s Ayo Saka

Tennis Federation pays tribute to Okoya-Thomas

NCF prepares busy schedule for chess players T

ollowing the FIDE rating boom achieved by numerous chess players last year, there are strong indications that better chess empowerment awaits all the ambitious players following the activities lined up for the year by the board of Nigeria Chess Federation. According to the programme of activities made available to the media, the registration and licensing of players is on-going alongside the payment of affilation fees to the World Chess body, FIDE.

In March, Achiever University in Ondo State will stage the maiden National University Chess Championship in in Owo from 25th-29th and it is FIDE rated. For the first time in the history of chess at the National Sports Festival, the event will be FIDE rated, this is aside from the medals to be awarded all the players. Barring any last minute changes by the National Sports Commission, the event will hold in Calabar in April. The annual Friends of Chess will in hold April from 3rd-4th.

Malogy Chess Championship will come up immediately after and both events are to be rated and will hold in Lagos. The famous C4 National Chess Championship organised by the Players’ Union annually in Lagos and South West Zonal Championships in Ibadan, will take centre stage in May between 2nd and 3rd and 28th and 31st respectively. While the National U-14 Chess Championship will run between 14th and 16th of the month.

he Nigeria Tennis Federation has described the death of Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas as a huge loss to sports worldwide. In a tribute to the sport philanthropist and socialite, NTF President Sani Ndanusa said “it is with very heavy hearts and unspeakable sorrow that the Nigerian Tennis Federation (NTF) received the news of the demise of our lovable and very enthusiastic tennis patron – Chief Molade Okoya- Thomas (MFR) – which occurred on February 1 in Lagos at age 79.” “Chief Okoya-Thomas was the face of the NTF in the major international tennis competitions

like the Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open which he attended consistently and passionately up to the end of 2014. He was a truly consummate sports and business ambassador of Nigeria,” Ndanusa said. Ndanusa, a former Sports Minister noted that as president of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Okoya-Thomas prevailed on his uncle/cousin Chief Ajisomo Alabi (Lord Rumens) to, not only continue the sponsorship of the Lord Rumens Classics that brought former world stars like Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek and Paul Haarhuis to Lagos, but to take it to a higher level.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

On Marble

Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine

World Record

Sanctity of Truth

Robert Wadlow (USA), the tallest man ever, had hands that measured 32.3 cm (12.75 in) from the wrist to the tip of his middle finger.

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

N150

Before Buhari’s age becomes a curse GUEST COLUMNIST Odimegwu Onwumere

enior citizens should be treated with respect. It is in our values to revere and respect old people and not to make jokes of them no matter the situation. We are not operating a culture where old age is seen as a crime and the old ones confined in homes where others care for them; it is in our culture that we care for our old people at home, when they could no longer be actively operational. In that line, the United Nations recognized the importance of old age and for mulated ideas to develop policy that would adhere to the ageing populations across the globe with a margin that old age begins at 60. This body even started celebrating the Inter national Day of Older Persons in October. The inter national body set this aside to acknowledge the contributions that over the 60-line has made to the society. In 1998 World Day of Older Persons, Kofi Annan as UN Secretary General, declared in his message for, “a society for all ages is a society which, far from caricaturing older people as retired and infir m, considers them on the contrary as agents and beneficiaries of development”. This disclosure was made after an “Inter national Plan of Action on Ageing” was created at the World Assembly on Ageing held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, from 26 July to 6 August 1982, and lingers to this day as inter national tip of suggestion. However, in Nigerian politics, as we can observe General Muhammadu Buhari joined the ring to contest the presidential race, many are wont to saying that he is a man of above 70 and has nothing to contribute in the politics of the 21st Century. The way and manner that those in this line of thought are handling Buhari’s age, makes old age to sound like a curse and not actually a blessing. Even some persons who are above the UN’s 60-line join the bandwagon to castigate Buhari for his age. These people forget the known, tested and proven fact that everything old tests fine: Old wine tests fine, old wood burns well, old friends can be trusted. And Buhari may not be exempted! A pontifical council for the laity document, titled, "The Dignity of Older People and their Mission in the Church and in the World", sees the likes of Buhari as those in the “third age”. And they are a large slice of the world's population. Such people are still important to the everyday activities of their societies even though they may have retired from active employment, but they have tremendous inner

Buhari

Robert Mugabe

Queen Elizabeth

Raul Castro

resources that the society will benefit from. This is why they are not a curse but referred to as “young old”. Much as we know, old people are always helpful in a given society to stop selfish, combatant, complex, arrogant, self-centered, envious, competitive... traits that are associated with youths. In Igbo, it is proverbial

that why every compound must have an old person is to avert children from catching vulture and mistake it for kite. Old people are good at experience, advising the society around them on financial matters and other traditional rituals among their people. It is incongruous to castigate Buhari because of his age in politics; he should be appraised for taking such a line when many of his ilks are whiling away their time in gossip. In a comment on Yahoo about four years ago, one Barbara Gettinger Stewart, said that it has always seemed to her that foolish young people become foolish old people. However, just by virtue of living a long time, even old foolish people pick up a bit of experience that the younger generation can use. She continued, saying that people who have lived a long time can remember things that no longer exist; such as typing papers using carbon paper and white out. Adults were feared to an extent, even beloved ones. She said that as she approached 70, she found herself understanding more and more about those who came before, even some

These people forget the known, tested and proven fact that everything old tests fine: Old wine tests fine, old wood burns well, old friends can be trusted. And Buhari may not be exempted!

who were quite foolish during their lives. She concludes: All humans have intrinsic worth and the scale goes on from there. Another commentator said that wherever the Old people are they take care of the kids, provide them with the inputs of their experience, knowledge and emotional value of family and groom the children as good, obedient and bright children and Law abiding future citizen. There is an intangible string of emotional attachment among them. When they are happy in the family, they are happy outside and spread happiness to others as well. This treatise is to support Buhari's age and not actually his person or political ambition. What this means is that we have to understand ageing from the biological point of view as well as from the cultural point of view. In our clime, we celebrate the ageing process and respect our elders. We should stop making disgusting comments about our ageing people, otherwise we are sloping into Western cultures. According to "7 Cultures That Celebrate Aging And Respect Their Elders", youth in the West is fetishized and the elderly are commonly removed from the community and relegated to hospitals and nursing homes; ageing can become a shameful experience. Physical signs of human aging tend to be regarded with distaste, and ageing is often depicted in a negative light in popular culture, if it is even depicted at all. From the Christian perspective, Billy Graham said that the Scripture is filled with examples of men and women whom God used late in life, often with great impact – men and women who refused to use old age as an excuse to ignore what God wanted them to do. Buhari maintains the maxim by one Aldous Huxley, which suggests that the secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. It is obvious that Buhari lived a cautious youthful age, because according to Maurice Chevalier: A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of it bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world. In summary, according to WikiHow, elderly people are now who you will one day become. Respecting their wisdom, knowledge, grace and fortitude should come second nature to younger generations but it isn't always the case. Sometimes we need reminding of why it is so important to respect our elders for what they have to impart to us that will help ease our journey through life. They should always be respected like you want them to respect you. • Onwumere (apoet_25@yahoo.com), poet andwriter sent this piece from Port Harcourt

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